Currently, the Expansion and Base Game are split on all full game categories, and merged for all IL categories. This thread is meant to get an idea for if that's how it should be.

I'll start with the easiest- 100% and 100% No Heavenly Requirement have slightly different definitions based on if you're playing the base game or the expansion. These two are staying split no matter what, as the goal changes, not just the route.

Any% and Any% NG+, then, are currently split. But should they be? The difference seems to be the same as for the ILs, where the two are merged. As far as I can tell, the only difference for these categories is that Dry NoLegs, Slime Bunny and Phyrnna are options to use. Does such a small difference warrant a full category split, or just a variable filter to show which runs were on which version?

I believe some ILs are advantaged by using the expansion version, which in turn would give both Any% categories a small overall advantage- but this is still a smaller difference than platform differences in other games.

Personally, especially given the fact that there have been 2 run submitters so far, anything that allows direct comparisons should- so I would be in favor of the any%/NG+ category split being dropped to a variable filter, like with the ILs.

IN SUMMARY: I'm considering moving the base/expansion subcategory for the any% categories into just a filter, depending on other opinions

Not entirely sure either. For some reason, I don't have the expansion, so I don't know how that would filter in with the new characters. Judging from your recent level category runs, it would help drastically. As you move through an Any%, the enemies gradually get more health/ more numerous, and you start to have to stop firing more often to wait for matt's swords to reload, slowing down run. Dry No-Legs could quite possibly shred through levels much faster than Matt could tbh. It could probably save a lot of time in worlds 4-6 (5-10 minutes maybe).

Then again, what do I know, I don't have the expansion :P

The big advantage of the Titan Blade is that is hits everything in front of you instantly for a decent chunk of damage- it pierces. Bullet Hell doesn't, but can hit both sides of the screen at the same time. Lance can do it with his bomb item for (I think) more damage and piercing, but with tougher timing. Anna can hit both sides with her default shot and pretty much any sub-weapon.

I don't think any given character is 100% the best option for anything (other than Natalie for speedkilling bosses) and since that's the only (gameplay) difference between base and expansion, I had thought they should be merged for categories where that's the case... but that could be taken as me adjusting the rules to give me an advantage, so I figured I'd ask for other opinions before doing so.

It's not that Dry no legs is good for everything, it just has loads of splash damage, which is why I chose to single out worlds 4-6 (world 5 especially.) It wouldn't be just using one character in the expansion (in theory) it would be changing to dry no-legs for worlds 4-6 and then changing back. Also the enemies like to move around a lot, making hitting the slightly finicky hitbox of Titan Blade difficult. Now that I think about it, it would probably help with the hexagon things and the ice in World 4-5 on top of the splash damage. So yea, sorry for the salt, but 5 min. is kinda a lot in a speedrun. :)

If you want splash damage, Anna's Gaia Blossom fits the bill- but as mentioned, Bullet Hell wins for spread (it has no splash damage or piercing). edit: I did some testing of Anna/Gaia Blossom and Lance/Cluster Bomb. Anna's shot and bomb work the same as Dry NoLegs, making the comparison Gaia Blossom vs. Bullet Hell. Bullet Hell proved only marginally more effective at dealing with groups of small foes and Gaia Blossom marginally more effective at dealing with stronger foes. Overall? Looks like a wash.

I don't think the difference is quite 5 minutes- probably less than 1 minute after the Anna testing. But you are correct that it is a sizable difference. Any% and NG+ will remain split then- though it does have the unfortunate consequence of separating any full-game runs done currently. I might just have to do a run on the web version just to directly compare...

We'll see who comes out on top after I go through the rest of the ILs. I don't remember too much of worlds 4-6 since in my first playthrough, I played the first 3 worlds a lot going for 3 star ranks, gave up on that in W3 and kept the first 1 star I got after that point. Had no trouble with that stretch of the game so I don't remember it too well, while the end I did struggle to get star ranks on sometimes.

Probably you, you're putting way more work into the IL's than I am (or at least it looks like it.) Good luck and don't be disappointed when bombs away takes 2 whole minutes -_- Seriously, that level felt like a total drag in my Any%.

I didn't mean which person would end up on top- I meant which character would end up used for each level.