I just threw this short guide together since this category is in the Big20 race, for those who are generally unfamiliar with this game. Password generator can be found here.
What do I use?
For an optimal password, there is no reason to not have the following items:
Town: Eilos [sic]
Selected Weapon: D. Slayer
Selected Armor: B. Suit
Selected Weapon: B. Helmet
Selected Item: Key J
Unselectable items: Bl. Onyx, F. Crystal (actually is Magical Rod), Elixir, Dmon Ring, Dwrf Ring, Ruby Ring, Elf Ring
Quests: All selected
For magic, Deluge is recommended. Having other magic in your inventory is never a negative though.
Item inventory can vary, but at the very least you should have the following as they are mandatory:
Key J (starting equipped), Mattock, Key Q, Key A, Key K
Current route uses wing boots in three places, which leaves one open slot for either a spare wing boots, a spare red potion, or nothing (item menu pulls up a couple of frames quicker with fewer items). Recommended item list and order is as follows:
Key J (starting equipped)
Mattock
Key Q
Wing Boots
Wing Boots
Key A
Key K
Wing Boots
(extra, can be slotted in wherever you feel it's needed)
Ranks
Rank is the big question. There are 16 ranks, and as you go up in rank you start with more money, your acceleration increases, and your wing boot timer decreases. This creates an interesting tradeoff between flight time and movement speed.
The movement increase and boots decrease occurs at each "tier" of ranks, or each 4 titles. Within a tier, the only change is amount of money you have.
Tier 1: Slowest, 40s wing boots
- Novice
- Aspirant
- Battler
- Fighter
Tier 2: Slow, 30s wing boots
- Adept
- Chevalier
- Veteran
- Warrior
Tier 3: Fast, 20s wing boots
- Swordman
- Hero
- Soldier
- Myrmidon
Tier 4: Fastest, 10s wing boots
- Champion
- Superhero
- Paladin
- Lord
The current WR run uses tier 2, but other tiers have not been extensively tested to see if time can be saved. If you are looking to improve, this is a good place to experiment. If you are new to this category (or game), it is at least recommended to use the 4th title in the tier of you choosing (Fighter, Warrior, Myrmidon, Lord) so you have extra money for food or healing if needed.
Other Tips
Don't worry about your health much; you're a tanky boy with the battle suit, and there's no reason not to have Elixir, which restores all your health/magic once on death. This costs a few seconds, but it's better than restarting.
If you're lost, almost every screen in the route has you go either up or right.
It's easier to equip items without losing walk speed if you open up the item menu while jumping.
Meat shop is about 11 seconds, hospital is about 13 seconds, and using your elixir is about 5 seconds.
Some enemies have resistance/immunity to certain magics which the game does an awful job of conveying as they still do the damage "squeak" like any other attack. No enemies resist Deluge, though.
