I'm pretty sure that in an earlier version of the game, you don't need Needolin to open the grand gate and summon Last Judge, so you could make it to act 2, and you could get Faydown, so by getting a simple key from Pebb and getting cling grip via Wormways, you could possibly skip Needolin, but you still need to beat bell beast or else you're softlocked in the Slab. Anyone know a possible way around this? (Or if clipping is a major glitch)

You need to ring all the bells for the door to unlock regardless of having the needolin or not, and for the Bellhart bell you need to beat Widow (and thus you get the Needolin). I'm pretty sure even the release patch wouldn't have such a major bug that skipping bells would still open the gate to the Citadel?

Mm, so 0% might be impossible if Needolin is needed…

Wait, I think I remember there being a skip for the grand gate, but a forgot what it was.

Well the only two NMG-allowed routes to act 2 are through the Grand Gate or through the Mist, and both need the Needolin, and even if you could somehow skip into Act 2 without the Needolin, 0% isn't even possible because of other requirements like Clawline or Cling Grip

A bit late to this thread, but the tournament format seemed really fun. Always nice seeing the community come up with new ways to challenge themselves.