The following is a guide to some of the important things that you will need to know to complete an Any% speedrun of Galaxy on Fire 2. These are in no particular order, and I'll keep adding onto this guide if any new discoveries are made or if I remember anything that I left out initially. I am not sure if all of this will work for the PC version, as I am not familiar with it, but everything applies to mobile.
1. Item Duplication Item duplication is a very useful trick that can net you lots of credits fast. In the Any% speedrun, it is used with Gunant's drill at the beginning of the game. To successfully duplicate items every time, follow these steps:
•If the item you wish to duplicate is currently mounted on your ship, dismount it, then find it in the hangar. If not, proceed straight to the item in the hangar.
•Press the arrow to sell the item, but do not let go. Scroll the screen upwards (a flick works best) until the ships are visible.
•Without touching anything else on the screen, touch one of the ships. The game only registers your item as bought or sold once you any other item in the shop, but for some reason, this does not apply to your ships. Thus, the item will remain in your inventory, but you will have gotten the credits for selling it.
•Go to your ship in the hangar. Mount your duplicated item to your ship. Then, go back to the shop and touch any non-ship item. THIS IS IMPORTANT. If you do not do this, when you dismount the item from your ship, it will disappear.* As long as you touch a non-ship item in the shop, your item will stay in your inventory.
Congratulations, you've just duplicated an item. If you wish, dismount your item and duplicate again for more credits. *Note: This step is not mandatory when duplicating secondary weapons. They will not disappear from your inventory.
2. Fast Forward The game's fast-forward mechanic is your friend during this speedrun. It is used continuously for much of the run. You are able to fast-forward when there are no enemies picked up on your scanner (hence why it is more efficient to keep the scanner dismounted at all times unless necessary), and when you are far enough away from the destination that you are locked onto. Fast-forwarding only works when you are locked onto a destination. At around 1.3km, the fast-forward option goes away, but have no fear! By swiping to dodge, the fast-forward prompt appears for a brief period. If you press it, you will fast-forward for that small amount of time. This can be done as many times as needed until the destination is reached. And now for more specific instances where fast-forwarding is used.
•Unless locking onto an asteroid, as long as you bring the engines of your ship to 0 before you lock on to your destination, you will be able to fast-forward while stationary. This is used on Dima before the probe mission to get the wormhole to move. It is also used to fast-forward the Khador Drive animation later in the game.
•There is a trick that can be done to allow free movement while in a fast-forwarded state. Lock onto an asteroid, but make sure that your ship's weapons are autofiring. Fast-forward toward the asteroid when locked on. Eventually, your weapons will destroy the asteroid, but as long as you hold the fast-forward button, you will be fast-forwarded. You can then use the control stick to control the ship while fast-forwarded. This is used to speed up the probe mission, as it is a a mission where you must survive until the timer runs out, and fast-forwarding your ship also fast-forwards the timer. It is also used to speed up in the Void during the final mission.
Side Note- Boosters: Boosters increase the speed at which you travel. Naturally, they help a lot in speedruns. The Synchrotron boost is the best, but Cyclotron works well too. The Linear boost, while not ideal, works well enough. For a beginner, getting a Cyclotron or Synchrotron is not the highest priority. Boosters can be used in conjunction with fast-fowarding to make you travel even faster. The Linear boost increases your speed by 60%, the Cyclotron by 80%, and the Synchrotron by 160%. (The Me'al is a faster booster with a 200% speed boost, but it is only found at Vossk stations, meaning that it is highly unlikely to be found in a speedrun).
3. Gunant's Drill Glitch Gunant's Drill Glitch is a unique glitch that takes place directly after the fight with pirates at Var Hastra with Gunant. It allows you to take Gunant's drill (which will eventually be duplicated for copious amounts of credits), as opposed to having it taken from you as it normally is. I will now detail how to pull off this glitch:
•Fight and defeat the three pirates with Gunant. This one has nothing to do with the trick itself, but I included it here to remind you where it takes place.
•Dock at the station. Skip the first dialogue box, then open up the settings and click "Load Game."
•Skip the second dialogue box that appears and reload the autosave. Immediately, spam-tap the hangar, and you should end up in the hangar.
•Go to your ship and dismount Gunant's drill. It's now yours. I'm sure Gunant won't miss it.
The second dialogue box will reappear once you exit the hangar. This is normal, and the glitch has still been successfully executed.
4. Weaponry This will detail the best weapons to get for this run to minimize the amount of time spent in combat encounters.
•In Mido, the Nirai Impulse is the best secondary weapon for fighting the pirates, as it has a better range than the Micro Gun. As for secondary weapons, Edos are best, though if you aren't looking for a super optimized time, Jet Rockets will work in a pinch.
•In the rest of the game, the best primary weapons are the M6A2 Cougar and the M6A1 Wolf, in that order. Other weapons will work fine; the Berger Converge weapons aren't that bad if you can't get an M6 weapon. As for secondary weapons, as soon as you reach Thynome, Intelli Jets are the only secondary weapon you will need for the duration of the run. The blueprint can be found in the Thynome space lounge, sold by a Vossk. Make 40 Intelli Jets (autocomplete the blueprint four times), and then equip them to your ship. 40 should be more than enough to last you the entire run. Intelli Jets are some of the best secondary weapons in the game. They have a range of 10km, meaning that they can hit targets from extremely long ranges. They also do a high amount of damage, usually taking out about half of the enemy's health. It also does EMP damage, not that your target will live long enough to be stunned by the EMP. The Intelli Jet is an invaluable addition to your arsenal and can speed up combat encounters by a lot.
5. Equipment Throughout the run, various equipment is needed to be mounted to your ship. The following is a list of all the optimal equipment. It is unecessary (not to mention rare) to find all of this equipment for a speedrun, but it helps.
•Mining Laser- Gunant's Drill. This one just makes sense. It is the best drill in the game, and you have already stolen it from Gunant with Gunant's Drill Glitch (see above). Gunant's drill allows you to mine the fifty Void Crystals faster and easier than other drills.
•Armor- E6. The E6 armor is the best armor that is readily accessible during the run. If you don't find an E6, E4 works fine in conjunction with a good shield (see below). Upgrade your armor as soon as possible. If you are stuck with E2 until the end of the game, chances are you will die because the E2 armor is weak.
•Shield- Beamshield II. The Beamshield II is the best shield that is readily accessible during the run. It is always important to have a shield during the run so that you can absorb more damage without dying. The Riot Shield is a fine substitute, albeit weaker, when the Beamshield II is unavailable. Try to upgrade from the Targe Shield if possible, as it is weak, but it's better than nothing.
•Booster. See above.
•Scanner- Hiroto Ultrascan. Although the scanner is dismounted for the majority of the run, there are some instances where the game requires use of the scanner, as well as the duel with Erkkt and the Midorian convoy, where the scanner is optional, but is faster to use it in the long run because of the amount of enemies you are required to kill. The Hiroto Ultrascan is the best scanner in the game. It is extremely fast, and has the added bonus of marking A-class asteroids on the HUD, which is handy for mining the Void Crystals. Any scanner works fine and doesn't lose too much time in the speedrun, except the Telta Quickscan. If possible upgrade from the Telta Quickscan to any other scanner.
•Tractor Beam- AB3 Kingfisher. The tractor beam is only used for one mission, the one on Sahi where it is necessary to pick up alien remains. Any tractor beam works fine, the AB3 Kingfisher is simply the fastest.
•Khador Drive. Always make sure that you have an equipment slot for the Khador Drive once you are able to make it. Which brings us to our next subject:
6. Ships Having a good ship is important. It's how you get around! The most important things to think about when buying a ship are the cargo hold space, and the number of equipment slots. I recommend the Furious, Groza, Teneta, or Hera as solid ships that have both a good amount of cargo space and a good number of equipment slots. These four ships will get you through the run every time. Ideally, you want a ship with at least 60 tons of cargo space, but preferably more, so that your ship can carry the 50 tons of Void Crystals, plus whatever other items you may have unequipped at the time.
