Difference between revisions of "Bobbob's notes on low% RBO"

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These are some preliminary notes, since I have it stuck in my head right now. I'll transfer my full notes here at some point.
 
These are some preliminary notes, since I have it stuck in my head right now. I'll transfer my full notes here at some point.
  
Low% RBO can be separated into four different branches:
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Low% RBO has a number of considerations: [[Underflow]], [[X-Ray Scope Glitches|X-Ray Glitches]], [[Crystal Flash|Crystal Flashing]], [[L+R Walljumping]], and NTSC/PAL.
(1) Standard NMG;
 
(2) (Crystal Flash)-less;
 
(3) (X-Ray Glitch)-less;
 
(4) Underflow.
 
  
There could, arguably, be more branches (e.g., disallowing both X-Ray Glitches and Crystal Flashes), but based off the below analysis this does not happen. There are two other separations:  L+R and PAL.
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Heat damage is slower on PAL, so hell runs are easier. Thus, it is always easier to do the route on PAL, and sometimes it may be possible to cut an item in PAL but not NTSC. I am unsure about how much easier extreme Ridley fights are in PAL due to this, since charging a beam still takes 60 frames, but Ridley's AI is also easier to avoid in PAL due to being slower.
 
 
Heat damage is slower on PAL, so hell runs are easier. Thus, it is always easier to do the route on PAL, and sometimes it may be possible to cut an item in PAL but not NTSC. I don't play PAL, so I have done no actual analysis here.
 
  
 
L+R wall jumping can help a lot in Maridia. This allows one to focus more on Lower Norfair, and thus can help cut items.
 
L+R wall jumping can help a lot in Maridia. This allows one to focus more on Lower Norfair, and thus can help cut items.
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Note that, in low% RBO, it is standard to collect 6 (Energy/Reserve) Tanks and skip Varia. Thus, the base percentage in low% RBO is 16%. Beating 16% will require having fewer than 6 Tanks. Note that, with standard strategies, to collect fewer than 6 Tanks would require collecting at most 4 Tanks:  If you collect 5 Tanks, then you need to collect Varia to survive Mother Brain's Rainbow Beam, which still totals 6 items. Thus, at the 6 Tank boundary, it is usually required to cut 2 Tanks to save an additional percentage.
 
Note that, in low% RBO, it is standard to collect 6 (Energy/Reserve) Tanks and skip Varia. Thus, the base percentage in low% RBO is 16%. Beating 16% will require having fewer than 6 Tanks. Note that, with standard strategies, to collect fewer than 6 Tanks would require collecting at most 4 Tanks:  If you collect 5 Tanks, then you need to collect Varia to survive Mother Brain's Rainbow Beam, which still totals 6 items. Thus, at the 6 Tank boundary, it is usually required to cut 2 Tanks to save an additional percentage.
  
=Standard NMG=
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There would be an exception for [[14% xChargeless|options that collect X-Ray and Crystal Flash ammo]], since [[R-Mode#R-mode Mother Brain|R-mode]] would allow completing the Mother Brain fight with only five tanks.
 +
 
 +
=Basic Item Collection=
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 +
The first thing to consider is if all desirable items can actually be collected.
 +
 
 +
All of the major items outside of Maridia are readily available. The Maridia majors also aren't very helpful, so that's fine.
 +
 
 +
For Energy Tanks, at least Blue Brinstar Energy Tank, Terminator Energy Tank, Gauntlet Energy Tank, Etecoons Energy Tank, Wavegate Energy Tank, Hi-Jump Energy Tank, and Crocomire Energy Tank are readily available. This is already 7 tanks (without any Reserves), so it's unlikely that more would be needed.
 +
 
 +
There are more than enough Missile Packs.
 +
 
 +
For low% purposes, I can't see needing more three Power Bomb Packs which is already settled by Etecoons Power Bombs, Alpha Power Bombs, and Beta Power Bombs.
 +
 
 +
==Super Missiles==
 +
 
 +
For Supers, there are Early Supers, Etecoons Supers, and Spore Spawn Supers as the readily available ones. This is good enough for minimal ammo, of 5/15.
 +
 
 +
If more ammo is needed, then maybe more majors are needed to collect them:
 +
 
 +
*GT Supers:  This should actually be readily available if needed. If entering from the front, then you are most likely stopping by the energy refill and then this pack is right there. The GT fight itself shouldn't add conditions (although may be obnoxious). If entering from the back, then you are using G-mode so should just handle Ridley with G-mode and thus don't need the extra supers.
 +
 
 +
*Crateria Supers:  Needs Speed Booster, Crystal Flash, or X-Ray.
 +
 
 +
*Crab Supers:  Whatever method you use to get through Maridia should be able to acquire this item, so this should also be available.
 +
 
 +
*Watering Hole Supers:  This needs some way to get up [[Pseudo Plasma Spark Room]]. Most itemsets that get through Maridia should be able to do this, but it might also just be really annoying.
 +
 
 +
*Aqueduct Supers:  This needs X-Ray or an ability to have a spark in [[Aqueduct]]. The latter is a confusing set of conditions, but, again, if you can comfortable get through Maridia and can generate a shinespark then this is probably accessible. It is just a question of how annoying it is.
 +
 
 +
Based off these words, we can see that basically any itemset that wants them will have 25 Supers available:  Crab Supers and GT Supers at least. To complete the analysis, we note pre-Botwoon must be solved. This is solved either by Ice Clip, a shinespark, a CF clip, or R-mode. The last three options can get Crateria Supers; the first can get Watering Hole Supers. Thus, any low% RBO itemset can collect 30 Supers.
  
Since this is the standard NMG perspective, this has been done before. We start with this run.
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==Reserve Tanks==
  
==18%==
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Note Reserve Tanks are more useful than Energy Tanks, due to [[Pause Abuse#Reserve Abuse|Reserve Abuse]]. Being a hot commodity, collecting the most we can should help.
  
This is ShinyZeni's low% RBO run. The itemset is xChargeless - Varia + 3 Energy/Reserve Tanks + Charge + Grapple.
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Two are readily available:  Brinstar Reserve and Norfair Reserve. One is not available:  Wrecked Ship Reserve.
  
xChargeless is a good base:  We want to be able to use X-Ray glitches (like G-mode Ridley, removing the heat damage from the Ridley fight), and we want to be able to Crystal Flash (one, to generate flash suits for Maridia; two, to make Lower Norfair hell runs more feasible).
+
This leaves Maridia Reserve. Again, since Maridia must be solved at some point, we can get to Aqueduct. Then this Reserve can be gotten with either Hi-Jump or [[L+R Walljumping]].
  
Charge is collected to kill Ridley, since we do not have enough ammo.
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If neither of these are accessible, it is possible to use a shinespark (to break the surface of the water) and a [[Sponge Bath]]-esque bomb jump (to break the surface of the water again) to get to this item.
  
Grapple is collected to farm pre-Ridley, and to help in Maridia.
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It is also technically possible with [[G-Mode]], by using two-wall underwater walljumps and then using the bomb jump.
  
We now analyze which items can be cut.
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So it's possible for this Reserve to be inaccessible. But we can always have at least two, and usually three.
  
==Grapple==
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=Maridia Routing=
  
The pre-Ridley farm is done with Grapple, but it isn't actually needed. It is possible, by leading a third bug over every other farm, to positively farm Energy in pre-Ridley without Grapple.
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We now consider our options for getting through Maridia. For the most part, this can be done by looking at the [[14%]] options and removing any that collect Gravity Suit. Also, the [[Underflow]] options may look appealing, but since Ridley needs to be killed before Draygon they are not as helpful as one might think (except for the Underflow route, see below).
  
As for Grapple's usage in Maridia, xChargeless is already a 14% category so it must be able to be cut. There is one issuein order to do xChargeless without L+R wall jumping, one needs to have no Energy Tanks in Below Botwoon Energy Tank Room to generate a stored shinespark to then spark up Halfie Climb Room. Since this would not be possible after doing Lower Norfair, cutting Grapple would make L+R wall jumping necessary.
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This leaves (currently)xIce, xPb, xBoots, xGrapple, xSpeed, xAmmo, xCharge, xChargeless, Icebooster, Grapplebooster, Chargelice, GrappleChargeless, Peebs, SuperChargeless, Iceboots (PAL), and Speedboots (PAL).
  
==Charge==
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In short, these are the itemsets that one should consider the "base" of there run. From here, tweaks should be made to make it possible with an RBO perspective.
  
Charge is used on Ridley and Mother Brain 2.
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As a remark, Icebooster is possible as a base. Usually, [[14% Icebooster]] is done with a blue suit generated from Varia. This is not needed:  A spikesuit may be used instead. In fact, my current pb for this category does this.
  
If Underflow is allowed (but the later Underflow strategy is disallowed by some other means), the Mother Brain 2 can be handled.
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=Current Run=
  
Using the R-mode Ridley strategy (while in G-mode), it is theoretically possible to kill Ridley with only Crystal Flash ammo.
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The current record, done by ShinyZeni, is an 18% run. It uses an xChargeless base, with 6 Tanks and no Varia, and additionally collects Charge and Grapple. Charge is collected to kill Ridley (as any Underflow-less route must do to be low%), and Grapple is used to help with Lower Norfair farming as well as make Maridia possible without [[L+R Walljumping]] (note although [[14% xChargeless]] doesn't require L+R Walljumping, it avoids it by using an R-mode CF Suit that requires having zero energy tanks:  Since one would have more than zero energy tanks when going to kill Draygon, this is not an option).
  
Thus, it is theoretically possible to cut Charge.
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Now we consider potential improvements to this route.
  
 
==Energy/Reserve Tank==
 
==Energy/Reserve Tank==
  
Since we have X-Ray and a Crystal Flash, we can cut a single Tank (by doing R-mode Mother Brain).
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By using R-mode Mother Brain, that fight can be done with only 5 Tanks. If the rest of Lower Norfair can be done with only 5 Tanks (most likely possible, due to having a Crystal Flash), this would allow cutting an item.
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==Grapple==
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Grapple can be avoided with L+R Walljumping. On PAL, it should be possible to avoid even without L+R Walljumping, by using a Jesuswalk Superjump. On NTSC, to avoid it would require the Mt. Everest Slopespark.
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 +
==Conclusions==
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It seems likely that 17% is possible, by cutting a tank. Further cutting down to 16% (most likely with [[L+R Walljumping]]) would be quite difficult.
  
The hell runs would have to be tested to be possible, but with the Crystal Flash they should be.
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=Entering From the Front:  X-Ray-less=
  
==Power Bomb Packs==
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Note that, with X-Ray, entering from the back is always possible:  Using a full health G-mode with 2+3 Tanks, you can make it to Firefleas and then farm to full. Thus, any X-Ray route could just enter the back and not have to deal with lava dive.
  
If Crystal Flashing is not necessary during the Lower Norfair hell run (by doing a full health G-mode into Lower Norfair:  The issue is making it to Ridley and back to Firefleas), then Power Bomb Packs can be cut.
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So, when considering the front entrance, we may as well eliminate X-Ray as an item and try to live without.
  
First, note there is a 14% (Charge, X-Ray, Power Bomb) set. However, this requires generating max 10 Power Bomb R-mode flash suits, which require having zero Energy Tanks. Thus, these methods cannot be done (for Maridia and Zebetite Skip).
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Looking at the available 14% categories with this restriction, an Icebooster base seems best:  It has Ice (to increase damage to Ridley and make Maridia easier), as well as Speed Booster (to help with lava dive, and make the third Reserve accessible).
  
So how can this be done? Well, with max 10 Missile Zebetite kills, you do not need to Zebetite Skip. With 14% xAmmo strats in Maridia, you do not need any sparks (note this requires L+R wall jumping). In other words, this is based on 13% (Charge, X-Ray), made possible with my humanly "doable" 10 missile Zebetite strat.
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We now analyze the issues. Note our base is 16%, with 3+3 Tanks and no Varia.
  
==Conclusion==
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==Zebetites==
  
With L+R wall jumping, you can theoretically cut 2 Power Bomb Packs and Grapple. This gives 15%, which makes sense because it is 2% higher than the 13% (Charge, X-Ray) it is now based on. Note we have now entirely removed Crystal Flashing.
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Not an issue, since we can Zebetite skip. Thus, we can have 5/15 ammo.
  
Without L+R walljumping, you can theoretically cut an Energy Tank giving 17%. If Underflow is allowed (while disallowing the later strategy), then you can theoretically cut Charge as well, giving 16%.
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==Lava Dive==
  
=(Crystal Flash)-less=
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I have tested the lava dive hell run (to the GT refill) with a spikesuit and 6 Energy Tanks, and it is just barely possible. Since this run would have 3+3 Tanks, it wouldn't be nearly as tight. In fact, my notes suggest that 4+1 Tanks and 1+2 Tanks are both possible (although extremely tight), so a 3+3 run should be learnable.
  
With disallowing a Crystal Flash, but allowing X-Ray Glitches, what should the itemset be?
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==GT Refilling==
  
Well, we should G-mode into Lower Norfair. This at least requires 3 Reserve Tanks and 2 Energy Tanks. It is made a lot easier with a blue suit. Thus, we should collect X-Ray and Speed Booster, for a blue suit. This leads to an xSpeed base.
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It is possible to use the Viola to fill Power Bombs, the Ripper 2's to fill Supers, and the Ripper 2's (when full on Supers killing them with power bombs) to fill Reserves. My notes suggest this requires at least 2 Energy Tanks, so again with 3 Energy Tanks this should be possible.
  
xSpeed requires L+R wall jumping (at least on NTSC: a theoretical PAL method can skip it). Thus, we can add Grapple to help in Lower Norfair and Maridia.
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In the end, you will be short one power bomb, to farm the Ripper 2's one last time.
  
This leads to 17%:  xSpeed - Varia + 3 Energy/Reserve Tanks + Grapple. I have tested the pieces of hell runs required for this itemset, and they are "possible". Thus, this is our base.
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==Getting to Firefleas==
  
Now how can we cut items?
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I have tested the hell run to Firefleas from GT refill with no additional items, on 6 Energy Tanks. So, again, it should be quite feasible with 3+3 Tanks.
  
==Grapple==
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Unfortunately, Speed Booster does not help much here, and I'm sure my test did the WRITG walljump. So...good luck.
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==Firefleas Farming==
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 +
We can arrive with full supers. Even if we can't, we could do Namihe farming to fill them: It just takes forever.
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 +
Other than that, farming everything else here is standard.
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==Getting to pre-Ridley==
  
This is the only item that can really be cut. On NTSC, cutting this will require L+R wall jumping.
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I, unfortunately, do not have detailed notes on this hell run yet. I only have my basic notes from years back, which state it to be possible. Who knows if I actually tested it with 6 Energy Tanks, or 3+3 Tanks.
  
On PAL, this can theoretically be avoided with a Jesuswalk Superjump. I am not aware of this being tested for human viability.
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But either way, my notes also indicate that with Speed Booster it is possible to positively farm the Ninja Pirates. Thus, even if this hell run is stupidly tight, Speed Booster will come in and help.
  
==Different Base==
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==pre-Ridley Farming==
  
Our base of xSpeed was just the most convenient. Speed Booster just generally helps in Lower Norfair, but specifically helps with:  Entry with a blue suit to get past the Three Musketeers, and Fighting Pirate farming.
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Normally, this is done with Grapple. On PAL, it is just straight up possible without.
  
If pre-Ridley room can be reached and pre-Ridley farming initiated (using the three bug strat previously mentioned), then Fighting Pirate farming is not needed.
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On NTSC, it is also possible without. Every other farm, you lead a third bug over to the farming spot to be killed simultaneously with the other two bugs. I remember it being incredibly annoying, but possible.
  
If Three Musketeers can be dodged while doing this hell run with at most 290 Energy, then a blue suit is not needed. Note the blue suit helps because we don't have to dodge them, but also because we can kill them and get their health drops. So dropping Speed Booster here will hurt in two ways.
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==Ridley==
  
If both of these can be avoided, then a different item can be added. The best choice is probably Ice, since it makes Maridia much easier.
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With the pre-Ridley farming strat mentioned above, you can enter the Ridley fight with 44 damage and full ammo.
  
Then, if this is possible, dropping Grapple would not require L+R wall jumping.
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Unfortunately, 5/15/5 ammo with Charge+Ice requires 73 Charge shots. Basic math suggests this will take 1385 heat damage. My basic computations on reserve abuse suggests that each tank is worth 171 energy, if used near optimally. Thus, we have an effective energy of 868. I don't see humans being able to frame perfect [[Pause Abuse]] that difference.
  
==Speed Booster==
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===Super fight===
  
If the Different Base strat is possible, then Speed Booster is not needed. Then, again, by following the 13% (Charge, X-Ray) strats, it is possible to simply not have an extra item.
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Thus, something must be added. The obvious thing to add is two super packs, giving 5/25/5 ammo. With this, only 6 Charge shots are needed, reducing heat damage of this fight to 414. Adding in (optimal) pre- and post-Ridley damage, and damage before entering, the fight requires 648 energy. This assumes an absolutely perfect fight in many regards (e.g., no turning around while charging your beam), but in some other regards it is imperfect (e.g., your first shot on Ridley is free, not needing a cooldown).
  
==Conclusion==
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Thus, I tested this fight with 699 at the start (so without the 44 damage I should have had). I managed it with one frame perfect pause waiting for drops. Thus, with Reserve Tanks, the fight should be readily possible. The RNG also shouldn't be that bad, since it's a fast fight with 25 Supers.
  
If Speed Booster is not needed in Lower Norfair and L+R wall jumping is allowed, the theoretical minimum is 15%. This is based on 13% (Charge, X-Ray). This is the same as for Standard NMG analysis above, since a Crystal Flash was not used there.
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Note my fight also used power bombs. My notes now suggest it is technically faster to use ice shields, and 8 Charge shots. I didn't actually try this fight, but no matter what it should be better to open with an ice shield (which does not increase the number of Charge shots needed, since Ridley had 40 extra damage dealt).
  
If L+R wall jumping is allowed, then we can theoretically cut Grapple leading to 16%.
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===Wave fight===
  
If Speed Booster is not needed in Lower Norfair, then we can replace it with something else (Ice) and then theoretically cut Grapple without L+R wall jumping. This would allow for 16%.
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Instead, you could add just one item of Wave Beam and use x-factors.
  
=(X-Ray Glitch)-less=
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With 5/15/5 ammo, this would then require 14 Charge shots if every x-factor particle hit. Again, my basic math suggests this fight requires 688 energy total for everything.
  
Without X-Ray glitches, then Lava Dive has to actually be done. Also, Ridley has to actually be fought.
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However, again, this assumes a perfect fight:  No time needed to set up x-factors, always shooting, etc.
  
For fighting Ridley, we can collect 30 Supers. Using (5/15) ammo, this is 3 extra Super Packs.
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I tested this fight with 4+2 Tanks (I was hoping the third Reserve could be avoided, since it's a long trek), and did manage it. However, I learned that x-factors on Ridley are a severe pain after the third. Either some serious work needs to be put in to find the correct manipulations and timing, or you could just bash your head against the wall to get the RNG you want.
  
For Lava Dive, we can collect Hi-Jump.
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==post-Ridley farming==
  
Now what needs to be tested is if it is possible to do the Lava Dive hell run up to the GT Refill Room with 6 Tanks. I think I have tested this before, and it is possible with 3 Reserve Tanks using (not frame perfect, except maybe one for the elevator) pause abuse.
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The above Ridley energy requirements went until drops. You'll most likely be health bombed, so these can then sustain you to get back to bug farming.
  
From there, I know I have tested using the Ripper 2's to farm Reserve health, and farming Supers from the Ripper 2's and Power Bombs from the Violas. I have also tested making it through Amphitheater to Firefleas.
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==Hell run back to Firefleas==
  
Then, what remains is if you can make it to pre-Ridley. This is also a question for a lot of cutting items above, so we will just assume this is possible (as the above will be tested first, and then we will know limitations). We will add Grapple, for pre-Ridley farming (in case the three bug method isn't actually humanly viable).
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This, in theory, should be similar to the hell run to get down here. Again, I don't have good notes. Again, Speed Booster should ensure it is possible.
  
We have no base, since we didn't actually care about other items. So pick your favorite 14% itemset that doesn't collect Gravity or X-Ray, and doesn't need L+R wall jumping. Also, we need Charge (to kill Ridley).
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==Escaping Lower Norfair==
  
The only one left (on NTSC) is 14% Icebooster. This feels a little bit sketchy, since 14% Icebooster usually uses a Varia blue suit to get through Maridia. This isn't actually needed, it is just a lot easier:  It is possible to carry a spikesuit through Maridia instead. This will be easier in the above case, since we also have Grapple.
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This is a really short hell run. In fact, I have confirmed that the hell run to escape Firefleas back to Bubble Mountain is possible with 1 Reserve + 1 Crystal Flash. Thus it should be trivial with 3+3 Tanks. Annoying with dodging the Three Musketeers, but the post-Ridley save should make this possible to grind out.
  
Thus, our predicted low% is:  Icebooster - Varia + 3 Energy/Reserve Tanks + 3 Super Packs + Grapple + Hi-Jump. This gives 21%.
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Note you'll want to know the minimum health to get from the Ridley save to Firefleas, so you know if you should save or not.
  
Since we didn't really care about (Ice, Speed), we could instead collect two power bomb packs for a Crystal Flash. This is a GrappleChargeless base, but with Hi-Jump the L+R wall jumping isn't needed. This isn't used, so that we can simultaneously not use X-Ray Glitches or Crystal Flashes and still have the same percentage.
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==Conclusions==
  
Now what items can we cut?
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The above analysis says:
  
==Hi-Jump==
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*17% is the minimum humanly, adding Wave;
  
Maybe with a stored shinespark, Hi-Jump isn't needed for Lava Dive. This would have to be tested. This hell run already needed to be confirmed again, but by my memory it was incredibly tight with Hi-Jump. Thus, it may just not be possible without.
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*18% is more reasonable, adding 2 Super Packs;
  
==Grapple==
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*with 3 Super Packs, Ridley would become much easier leaving only the hell runs to contend with;
  
Again, if pre-Ridley farming does not need Grapple, we can theoretically cut this.
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*with Grapple, the most obnoxious part of the hell runs in my opinion (pre-Ridley farming) would become much easier.
  
==Ice or Speed==
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=Entering from the Back:  All the X-Ray Glitches=
  
On PAL, we could instead use an Iceboots or Speedboots base to cut one of these. This would require keeping Hi-Jump. But it does give us 20% for free on PAL, since our above analysis didn't actually use Ice or Speed in Lower Norfair.
+
We now consider a route for using X-Ray. The base will be [[13% xCharge]], which requires [[L+R Walljumping]]. To avoid this, one of Ice, Hi-Jump Boots, or Grapple should probably be added; other things may work, but it'd probably be harder than figuring out how to get L+R Walljumping to work on whatever you are using (yes, I am including butchering an original SNES controller to make L+R Walljumping possible on console).
  
==Super Packs==
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Note our minimal consideration here is actually only 5 Tanks, since R-mode on Mother Brain may allow removing one if you have a Crystal Flash.
  
Our Super Packs are used on Ridley. If we could kill Ridley a different way sufficiently quickly (I know 30 Supers works with 6 Tanks, with getting back to pre-Ridley farming), then we could lower the percentage.
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==Getting to Firefleas==
  
The only thing that even seems remotely viable is cutting 2 Super Packs and replacing with Wave Beam. This cuts a percentage, and then requires doing 5 xFactors on Ridley. Good luck.
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With 2+3 Tanks, it is possible to get to Firefleas without a Crystal Flash. It does not appear feasible with fewer Tanks.
  
==10 Missile Zebetites==
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This means, in order to enter, the Maridia Reserve must be collected, or a Crystal Flash must be used.
  
A lot of the analysis for 14% categories depends upon Zebetite Skip being required. If 10 Missile Zebetites are allowed, then maybe something can be cut.
+
As remarked previously, technically G-mode from Aqueduct is sufficient to collect the Maridia Reserve, although extremely annoying. Thus, for purposes of figuring out the minimum, this will be ignored. However, note you should consider this if routing without L+R Walljumping.
  
In this case, nothing jumps out at me. But maybe I am missing something since I am just typing up some quick notes right now.
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==Getting to pre-Ridley==
  
==Conclusion==
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Again, my notes on this are very minimal. Thus, I don't know if this is possible on 2+3 Tanks, or even really if 3+3 Tanks is feasible (before I depended upon Speed Booster to know it was feasible).
  
On NTSC, it seems like the best case is to theoretically cut Hi-Jump, Grapple, and 2 Super Packs, but then add Wave. This gives 18%.
+
With a Crystal Flash, it should be trivial.
  
On PAL, it seems best to theoretically cut Speed, Grapple, and 2 Super Packs, but then add Wave. This gives 18% as well, but Lava Dive should be nicer.
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==pre-Ridley Farming==
  
Thus, I think 18% is a lower bound, while not allowing for X-Ray Glitches (and also Crystal Flashes, but this is a by-product: I just think allowing Crystal Flashes doesn't lower percentage). I should re-consider this, since maybe I am wrong.
+
This would be the same as without X-Ray. But it is also mostly pointless due to:
  
Also, if the Lower Norfair hell runs for the above sections prove impossible, then a Crystal Flash may be needed. This is future work.
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==Ridley==
  
=Underflow=
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Use G-mode on Ridley to not have heat damage.
  
It is possible to Underflow at Draygon, use Draygon to get pushed through the door, and then escape with the spark from Underflowing.
+
You still need enough ammo to be able to kill Ridley. Charge would be cheapest, hence our 13% xCharge base.
  
This gives Underflown ammo while Draygon is still alive.
+
Note, as in the current run, with a Crystal Flash this is trivial.
  
In my opinion, this satisfies the definition of RBO but not the spirit of RBO. Yes, we didn't kill Draygon, but we did enter her room. But rather than debate about this not being allowed in RBO, I will just analyze how it changes things.
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==post-Ridley farming==
  
I have fully tested that it is possible to get to Draygon (under 14% Chargelice conditions, which seemed easiest), underflow, and escape.
+
Again, this is technially possible.
  
After this, you want to now use your nigh-infinite ammo to Crystal Flash and get through Lower Norfair with no other items. Well, you can't Crystal Flash with ammo greater than 32768, and you now have about 65535 of every ammo type. Thus, you have to spend like 12 hours wasting ammo, to get each below 32768.
+
==Getting back to Firefleas==
  
I have tested this as well. I then went through Lower Norfair with nigh-infinite Crystal Flashes and only three Tanks. I killed Ridley (using 30 Supers in 3 Tanks:  Crystal Flashing during Ridley is deadly), and escaped. I then finished the rest of the game, confirming that 14% RBO is possible.
+
Again, I don't really know if this is feasible on 2+3 Tanks. With a Crystal Flash, it should be.
  
However, this action of spending 12 hours of wasting ammo (which assumes fairly optimal ammo wasting) takes forever. I did this across weeks, if not months. I would load up the save file when watching something else, and just slowly waste ammo. Thus, this is definitely not viable.
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==Escaping==
  
In conclusion:  With Underflow allowed (and visiting Draygon without killing her allowed), 14% RBO is possible but extremely stupid. The possible itemsets are Chargelice, xChargeless, GrappleChargeless (L+R), and Pb-Pb (L+R).
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This is simple.
  
=Conclusion=
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==Conclusions==
  
The above analyzes everything fairly well. The (X-Ray Glitch)-less section needs to be fleshed out better, but this will come after completing the sections above it (since the hell runs are a subset of [X-Ray Glitch]-less). It suggests the following theoretical minimums, that require quite a bit of extra testing:
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*15% with L+R walljumping is possible, if the hell run to pre-Ridley and the hell run back to Firefleas can be done.
  
THEORETICAL:
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*16% without L+R walljumping is possible with a similar condition.
  
Underflow (and visiting Draygon) allowed14%
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*16% with L+R walljumping should be possibleAn xChargeless base, so a Crystal Flash can be used for any of the questionable hell runs. This also makes Ridley not completely terrible. This is basically ShinyZeni's route, but made terrible by removing all the helpful items, so is what was mentioned previously.
  
X-Ray Glitches allowed (Crystal Flashes may be banned or not):  15%
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=Underflow=
  
X-Ray Glitches allowed, but L+R banned (Crystal Flashes may be banned or not):  16%
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It is possible to Underflow at Draygon, and escape the room without killing her. I have tested this fully, under [[14% Chargelice]] conditions.
  
X-Ray Glitches banned (Crystal Flashing may be banned or not):  18%
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From here, you can use 32768 of every ammo type to be able to Crystal Flash again. You then have nigh-infinite Crystal Flashes, which allows hell running Lower Norfair and killing Ridley (using 30 Supers) with only three tanks.
  
 +
Thus, this makes 14% possible.
  
 +
This has two questionable aspects:  (1) Some people don't like Underflow; (2) Visiting Draygon before killing Ridley could be seen as not in the spirit of RBO.
  
 +
Note if [[13%]] IcePb is done RTA, this would also be applicable here allowing 13% RBO.
  
The current state of my testing is as follows (note these are TESTED, but not necessarily actually completed with a RUN, so I may have made a mistake somewhere and things may not be actually viable):
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=Total Conclusions=
  
TESTED, BUT NOT ACTUALLY COMPLETED:
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From the above, we have the following:
  
Underflow (and visiting Draygon) allowed:  14%
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*18%:  Minimum achieved (on NTSC without L+R Walljumping), using X-Ray and Crystal Flashes;
  
X-Ray Glitches allowed (Crystal Flashes may be banned or not):  18% [this is ShinyZeni's run, so is the only one that is truly confirmed]
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*17%:  Theoretical minimum (on NTSC) without L+R Walljumping, X-Ray, or Crystal Flashes;
  
X-Ray Glitches allowed, but L+R banned (Crystal Flashes may be banned or not):  17%
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*16%:  Theoretical minimum (on NTSC) without L+R Walljumping or Crystal Flashes (but with [[G-Mode]]);
  
Crystal Flashes Banned (X-Ray Glitches Allowed):  17% [this is the itemset I took as the base in the above:  This was my base, because I tested all pieces]
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*15%:  Theoretical minimum (on NTSC) without Crystal Flashes (but with [[G-Mode]] and [[L+R Walljumping]];
  
X-Ray Glitches banned (Crystal Flashing may be banned or not):  21% [this is not really fully tested:  From memory, I think I tested all the pieces, but there are some gaps in my notes]
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*14%:  Theoertical minimum (on NTSC) with Underflow (but without X-Ray glitches or L+R Walljumping);
  
 +
*13%:  Extra-theoretical minimum (on NTSC) with Underflow (but without X-Ray glitches or L+R Walljumping);
  
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*13%:  TAS minimum (on NTSC), without X-Ray or Crystal Flashes (as far as I know, TAS doesn't actually need L+R to break the surface of the water, so "L+R Walljumping" is basically a useless consideration for TAS).
  
I want to flesh this stuff out better, and get some clips to show the strategies involved. In short, I would like to confirm the theoretical lowest percentage as "possible" (even if quite far from "viable"). The above is a placeholder, since it was just stuck in my head this morning.
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Note in the above list, when I say something is possible without Crystal Flashes this is more of a fun coincidence than a requirement:  Allowing Crystal Flashes doesn't allow for lowering the percentage, except possibly with underflow.

Latest revision as of 01:09, 5 September 2022

These are some preliminary notes, since I have it stuck in my head right now. I'll transfer my full notes here at some point.

Low% RBO has a number of considerations: Underflow, X-Ray Glitches, Crystal Flashing, L+R Walljumping, and NTSC/PAL.

Heat damage is slower on PAL, so hell runs are easier. Thus, it is always easier to do the route on PAL, and sometimes it may be possible to cut an item in PAL but not NTSC. I am unsure about how much easier extreme Ridley fights are in PAL due to this, since charging a beam still takes 60 frames, but Ridley's AI is also easier to avoid in PAL due to being slower.

L+R wall jumping can help a lot in Maridia. This allows one to focus more on Lower Norfair, and thus can help cut items.

Note that, in low% RBO, it is standard to collect 6 (Energy/Reserve) Tanks and skip Varia. Thus, the base percentage in low% RBO is 16%. Beating 16% will require having fewer than 6 Tanks. Note that, with standard strategies, to collect fewer than 6 Tanks would require collecting at most 4 Tanks: If you collect 5 Tanks, then you need to collect Varia to survive Mother Brain's Rainbow Beam, which still totals 6 items. Thus, at the 6 Tank boundary, it is usually required to cut 2 Tanks to save an additional percentage.

There would be an exception for options that collect X-Ray and Crystal Flash ammo, since R-mode would allow completing the Mother Brain fight with only five tanks.

Basic Item Collection

The first thing to consider is if all desirable items can actually be collected.

All of the major items outside of Maridia are readily available. The Maridia majors also aren't very helpful, so that's fine.

For Energy Tanks, at least Blue Brinstar Energy Tank, Terminator Energy Tank, Gauntlet Energy Tank, Etecoons Energy Tank, Wavegate Energy Tank, Hi-Jump Energy Tank, and Crocomire Energy Tank are readily available. This is already 7 tanks (without any Reserves), so it's unlikely that more would be needed.

There are more than enough Missile Packs.

For low% purposes, I can't see needing more three Power Bomb Packs which is already settled by Etecoons Power Bombs, Alpha Power Bombs, and Beta Power Bombs.

Super Missiles

For Supers, there are Early Supers, Etecoons Supers, and Spore Spawn Supers as the readily available ones. This is good enough for minimal ammo, of 5/15.

If more ammo is needed, then maybe more majors are needed to collect them:

  • GT Supers: This should actually be readily available if needed. If entering from the front, then you are most likely stopping by the energy refill and then this pack is right there. The GT fight itself shouldn't add conditions (although may be obnoxious). If entering from the back, then you are using G-mode so should just handle Ridley with G-mode and thus don't need the extra supers.
  • Crateria Supers: Needs Speed Booster, Crystal Flash, or X-Ray.
  • Crab Supers: Whatever method you use to get through Maridia should be able to acquire this item, so this should also be available.
  • Watering Hole Supers: This needs some way to get up Pseudo Plasma Spark Room. Most itemsets that get through Maridia should be able to do this, but it might also just be really annoying.
  • Aqueduct Supers: This needs X-Ray or an ability to have a spark in Aqueduct. The latter is a confusing set of conditions, but, again, if you can comfortable get through Maridia and can generate a shinespark then this is probably accessible. It is just a question of how annoying it is.

Based off these words, we can see that basically any itemset that wants them will have 25 Supers available: Crab Supers and GT Supers at least. To complete the analysis, we note pre-Botwoon must be solved. This is solved either by Ice Clip, a shinespark, a CF clip, or R-mode. The last three options can get Crateria Supers; the first can get Watering Hole Supers. Thus, any low% RBO itemset can collect 30 Supers.

Reserve Tanks

Note Reserve Tanks are more useful than Energy Tanks, due to Reserve Abuse. Being a hot commodity, collecting the most we can should help.

Two are readily available: Brinstar Reserve and Norfair Reserve. One is not available: Wrecked Ship Reserve.

This leaves Maridia Reserve. Again, since Maridia must be solved at some point, we can get to Aqueduct. Then this Reserve can be gotten with either Hi-Jump or L+R Walljumping.

If neither of these are accessible, it is possible to use a shinespark (to break the surface of the water) and a Sponge Bath-esque bomb jump (to break the surface of the water again) to get to this item.

It is also technically possible with G-Mode, by using two-wall underwater walljumps and then using the bomb jump.

So it's possible for this Reserve to be inaccessible. But we can always have at least two, and usually three.

Maridia Routing

We now consider our options for getting through Maridia. For the most part, this can be done by looking at the 14% options and removing any that collect Gravity Suit. Also, the Underflow options may look appealing, but since Ridley needs to be killed before Draygon they are not as helpful as one might think (except for the Underflow route, see below).

This leaves (currently): xIce, xPb, xBoots, xGrapple, xSpeed, xAmmo, xCharge, xChargeless, Icebooster, Grapplebooster, Chargelice, GrappleChargeless, Peebs, SuperChargeless, Iceboots (PAL), and Speedboots (PAL).

In short, these are the itemsets that one should consider the "base" of there run. From here, tweaks should be made to make it possible with an RBO perspective.

As a remark, Icebooster is possible as a base. Usually, 14% Icebooster is done with a blue suit generated from Varia. This is not needed: A spikesuit may be used instead. In fact, my current pb for this category does this.

Current Run

The current record, done by ShinyZeni, is an 18% run. It uses an xChargeless base, with 6 Tanks and no Varia, and additionally collects Charge and Grapple. Charge is collected to kill Ridley (as any Underflow-less route must do to be low%), and Grapple is used to help with Lower Norfair farming as well as make Maridia possible without L+R Walljumping (note although 14% xChargeless doesn't require L+R Walljumping, it avoids it by using an R-mode CF Suit that requires having zero energy tanks: Since one would have more than zero energy tanks when going to kill Draygon, this is not an option).

Now we consider potential improvements to this route.

Energy/Reserve Tank

By using R-mode Mother Brain, that fight can be done with only 5 Tanks. If the rest of Lower Norfair can be done with only 5 Tanks (most likely possible, due to having a Crystal Flash), this would allow cutting an item.

Grapple

Grapple can be avoided with L+R Walljumping. On PAL, it should be possible to avoid even without L+R Walljumping, by using a Jesuswalk Superjump. On NTSC, to avoid it would require the Mt. Everest Slopespark.

Conclusions

It seems likely that 17% is possible, by cutting a tank. Further cutting down to 16% (most likely with L+R Walljumping) would be quite difficult.

Entering From the Front: X-Ray-less

Note that, with X-Ray, entering from the back is always possible: Using a full health G-mode with 2+3 Tanks, you can make it to Firefleas and then farm to full. Thus, any X-Ray route could just enter the back and not have to deal with lava dive.

So, when considering the front entrance, we may as well eliminate X-Ray as an item and try to live without.

Looking at the available 14% categories with this restriction, an Icebooster base seems best: It has Ice (to increase damage to Ridley and make Maridia easier), as well as Speed Booster (to help with lava dive, and make the third Reserve accessible).

We now analyze the issues. Note our base is 16%, with 3+3 Tanks and no Varia.

Zebetites

Not an issue, since we can Zebetite skip. Thus, we can have 5/15 ammo.

Lava Dive

I have tested the lava dive hell run (to the GT refill) with a spikesuit and 6 Energy Tanks, and it is just barely possible. Since this run would have 3+3 Tanks, it wouldn't be nearly as tight. In fact, my notes suggest that 4+1 Tanks and 1+2 Tanks are both possible (although extremely tight), so a 3+3 run should be learnable.

GT Refilling

It is possible to use the Viola to fill Power Bombs, the Ripper 2's to fill Supers, and the Ripper 2's (when full on Supers killing them with power bombs) to fill Reserves. My notes suggest this requires at least 2 Energy Tanks, so again with 3 Energy Tanks this should be possible.

In the end, you will be short one power bomb, to farm the Ripper 2's one last time.

Getting to Firefleas

I have tested the hell run to Firefleas from GT refill with no additional items, on 6 Energy Tanks. So, again, it should be quite feasible with 3+3 Tanks.

Unfortunately, Speed Booster does not help much here, and I'm sure my test did the WRITG walljump. So...good luck.

Firefleas Farming

We can arrive with full supers. Even if we can't, we could do Namihe farming to fill them: It just takes forever.

Other than that, farming everything else here is standard.

Getting to pre-Ridley

I, unfortunately, do not have detailed notes on this hell run yet. I only have my basic notes from years back, which state it to be possible. Who knows if I actually tested it with 6 Energy Tanks, or 3+3 Tanks.

But either way, my notes also indicate that with Speed Booster it is possible to positively farm the Ninja Pirates. Thus, even if this hell run is stupidly tight, Speed Booster will come in and help.

pre-Ridley Farming

Normally, this is done with Grapple. On PAL, it is just straight up possible without.

On NTSC, it is also possible without. Every other farm, you lead a third bug over to the farming spot to be killed simultaneously with the other two bugs. I remember it being incredibly annoying, but possible.

Ridley

With the pre-Ridley farming strat mentioned above, you can enter the Ridley fight with 44 damage and full ammo.

Unfortunately, 5/15/5 ammo with Charge+Ice requires 73 Charge shots. Basic math suggests this will take 1385 heat damage. My basic computations on reserve abuse suggests that each tank is worth 171 energy, if used near optimally. Thus, we have an effective energy of 868. I don't see humans being able to frame perfect Pause Abuse that difference.

Super fight

Thus, something must be added. The obvious thing to add is two super packs, giving 5/25/5 ammo. With this, only 6 Charge shots are needed, reducing heat damage of this fight to 414. Adding in (optimal) pre- and post-Ridley damage, and damage before entering, the fight requires 648 energy. This assumes an absolutely perfect fight in many regards (e.g., no turning around while charging your beam), but in some other regards it is imperfect (e.g., your first shot on Ridley is free, not needing a cooldown).

Thus, I tested this fight with 699 at the start (so without the 44 damage I should have had). I managed it with one frame perfect pause waiting for drops. Thus, with Reserve Tanks, the fight should be readily possible. The RNG also shouldn't be that bad, since it's a fast fight with 25 Supers.

Note my fight also used power bombs. My notes now suggest it is technically faster to use ice shields, and 8 Charge shots. I didn't actually try this fight, but no matter what it should be better to open with an ice shield (which does not increase the number of Charge shots needed, since Ridley had 40 extra damage dealt).

Wave fight

Instead, you could add just one item of Wave Beam and use x-factors.

With 5/15/5 ammo, this would then require 14 Charge shots if every x-factor particle hit. Again, my basic math suggests this fight requires 688 energy total for everything.

However, again, this assumes a perfect fight: No time needed to set up x-factors, always shooting, etc.

I tested this fight with 4+2 Tanks (I was hoping the third Reserve could be avoided, since it's a long trek), and did manage it. However, I learned that x-factors on Ridley are a severe pain after the third. Either some serious work needs to be put in to find the correct manipulations and timing, or you could just bash your head against the wall to get the RNG you want.

post-Ridley farming

The above Ridley energy requirements went until drops. You'll most likely be health bombed, so these can then sustain you to get back to bug farming.

Hell run back to Firefleas

This, in theory, should be similar to the hell run to get down here. Again, I don't have good notes. Again, Speed Booster should ensure it is possible.

Escaping Lower Norfair

This is a really short hell run. In fact, I have confirmed that the hell run to escape Firefleas back to Bubble Mountain is possible with 1 Reserve + 1 Crystal Flash. Thus it should be trivial with 3+3 Tanks. Annoying with dodging the Three Musketeers, but the post-Ridley save should make this possible to grind out.

Note you'll want to know the minimum health to get from the Ridley save to Firefleas, so you know if you should save or not.

Conclusions

The above analysis says:

  • 17% is the minimum humanly, adding Wave;
  • 18% is more reasonable, adding 2 Super Packs;
  • with 3 Super Packs, Ridley would become much easier leaving only the hell runs to contend with;
  • with Grapple, the most obnoxious part of the hell runs in my opinion (pre-Ridley farming) would become much easier.

Entering from the Back: All the X-Ray Glitches

We now consider a route for using X-Ray. The base will be 13% xCharge, which requires L+R Walljumping. To avoid this, one of Ice, Hi-Jump Boots, or Grapple should probably be added; other things may work, but it'd probably be harder than figuring out how to get L+R Walljumping to work on whatever you are using (yes, I am including butchering an original SNES controller to make L+R Walljumping possible on console).

Note our minimal consideration here is actually only 5 Tanks, since R-mode on Mother Brain may allow removing one if you have a Crystal Flash.

Getting to Firefleas

With 2+3 Tanks, it is possible to get to Firefleas without a Crystal Flash. It does not appear feasible with fewer Tanks.

This means, in order to enter, the Maridia Reserve must be collected, or a Crystal Flash must be used.

As remarked previously, technically G-mode from Aqueduct is sufficient to collect the Maridia Reserve, although extremely annoying. Thus, for purposes of figuring out the minimum, this will be ignored. However, note you should consider this if routing without L+R Walljumping.

Getting to pre-Ridley

Again, my notes on this are very minimal. Thus, I don't know if this is possible on 2+3 Tanks, or even really if 3+3 Tanks is feasible (before I depended upon Speed Booster to know it was feasible).

With a Crystal Flash, it should be trivial.

pre-Ridley Farming

This would be the same as without X-Ray. But it is also mostly pointless due to:

Ridley

Use G-mode on Ridley to not have heat damage.

You still need enough ammo to be able to kill Ridley. Charge would be cheapest, hence our 13% xCharge base.

Note, as in the current run, with a Crystal Flash this is trivial.

post-Ridley farming

Again, this is technially possible.

Getting back to Firefleas

Again, I don't really know if this is feasible on 2+3 Tanks. With a Crystal Flash, it should be.

Escaping

This is simple.

Conclusions

  • 15% with L+R walljumping is possible, if the hell run to pre-Ridley and the hell run back to Firefleas can be done.
  • 16% without L+R walljumping is possible with a similar condition.
  • 16% with L+R walljumping should be possible: An xChargeless base, so a Crystal Flash can be used for any of the questionable hell runs. This also makes Ridley not completely terrible. This is basically ShinyZeni's route, but made terrible by removing all the helpful items, so is what was mentioned previously.

Underflow

It is possible to Underflow at Draygon, and escape the room without killing her. I have tested this fully, under 14% Chargelice conditions.

From here, you can use 32768 of every ammo type to be able to Crystal Flash again. You then have nigh-infinite Crystal Flashes, which allows hell running Lower Norfair and killing Ridley (using 30 Supers) with only three tanks.

Thus, this makes 14% possible.

This has two questionable aspects: (1) Some people don't like Underflow; (2) Visiting Draygon before killing Ridley could be seen as not in the spirit of RBO.

Note if 13% IcePb is done RTA, this would also be applicable here allowing 13% RBO.

Total Conclusions

From the above, we have the following:

  • 18%: Minimum achieved (on NTSC without L+R Walljumping), using X-Ray and Crystal Flashes;
  • 17%: Theoretical minimum (on NTSC) without L+R Walljumping, X-Ray, or Crystal Flashes;
  • 16%: Theoretical minimum (on NTSC) without L+R Walljumping or Crystal Flashes (but with G-Mode);
  • 14%: Theoertical minimum (on NTSC) with Underflow (but without X-Ray glitches or L+R Walljumping);
  • 13%: Extra-theoretical minimum (on NTSC) with Underflow (but without X-Ray glitches or L+R Walljumping);
  • 13%: TAS minimum (on NTSC), without X-Ray or Crystal Flashes (as far as I know, TAS doesn't actually need L+R to break the surface of the water, so "L+R Walljumping" is basically a useless consideration for TAS).

Note in the above list, when I say something is possible without Crystal Flashes this is more of a fun coincidence than a requirement: Allowing Crystal Flashes doesn't allow for lowering the percentage, except possibly with underflow.