Gunvalkyrie Speedrunning Notes/Guide

-------
Kelly vs Saburouta
-The only real differences between these characters are the weapons, and the fact that Kelly can upgrade her gearskin. In general, I found that Sab is faster on the vast majority of missions. He can eliminate enemies in 1 shot, and unlike Kelly, he starts out with the ability to use the meteor-crash ability. But, boss fights require Kelly, and the drive gun can be useful. I'll be explaining which character I use for each level, and why, as I go.

-------
Enemy Spawners
-On missions where you need to eliminate all enemies, be sure to destroy the spawners first. This means you will have fewer spider enemies (freki) to eliminate and you can clear the mission faster. However, I've noticed some of the spawners don't work, or maybe they have a much slower spawn rate. So it may take some experimenting to find out the fastest order to eliminate enemies in certain areas.

------
General Tips
-Pay attention to energy usage. You don't want to run out of it just when you need it, and it can take extra time to charge it back up. Also, you can only charge it while enemies are nearby. So use it wisely.

-It pays off to be strategic about how you combat against enemies. For example, sometimes instead of standing around and shooting, it may be better to fly around in the air above the group of enemies for a bit to charge up some energy and let them group together beneath you, then drop down and meteor-crash through them.

-There isn't very much randomness with the enemy locations in this game, so as long as you take the same path each time you run through a level, you can usually avoid checking the minimap or doing any backtracking. You can go back and practice any level (or boss) on a completed save.

-There is a sound that plays when come within range of enemies - if you're passing near a spot you already cleared and hear this, it can potentially clue you in that you've missed an enemy.

-You don't need to purchase the lvl1 upgrade before purchasing a lvl2 upgrade, and there is no benefit to buying them both.

-Boosting through the air repeatedly (instead of holding your boost down as long as it will go) seems to be the fastest way to move in the game, although it can be hard on the controller (and the hands).

-Also, if you boost on the ground first then jump, you will maintain the momentum, allowing you to get into the air without stopping.

-Make good use quickturns in your speedrun, they really help with navigation and cut time that would otherwise be wasted waiting for the camera to slowly turn.

-------
Framerate slowdown
-This appears to only be an issue on the original xbox, but the framerate can dip sometimes, which slows down the game and wastes time. So just pay attention to that and try to avoid things that cause the frame rate to drop.

-------
High Score Screens
-If you beat your personal best time on a level, you will likely get a high-score. Unfortunately, this accomplishment brings you to an extra screen between levels that shows where you stand and wastes time. Since it depends on the scores you’ve received in other runs/playthroughs, I think the most fair way to deal with this is to time these high-score screens and simply subtract that extra time from the final time at the end of the run. This is just my opinion though so, it can change if that's what we want to do.

-------
Valley 1 - Sab
-You don’t really need to kill anything on this level, but its a good idea to start collecting extra GVP right away. So that’s why I’m using Sab here, so I can just eliminate enemies in 1 hit without having to ever stop moving. Getting some extra GVP here can help to make sure you have enough to buy the items you need later on.

-------
Valley 2 - Sab
-The mission is to eliminate all enemies, so I use Sab here. Rather than using the intended route, I found that it is actually faster to travel through this map backwards. This is mainly because there is a segment at the starting area where you have to wait for enemies to all finish spawning in. The level loops back to this spot, so going the other way just allows time for these enemies to spawn in. By the time I get back around to this spot, they are all spawned in so they can be taken out quickly.

-------
Civ Base 1 - Sab
-Another mission where you have to clear all the enemies, so I use Sab again on this map. In the first room, I recommend going up to the top of the platform first to trigger the sequence which brings in a shielded enemy, before turning around to eliminate everything else in the room. By the time you’ve cleared the rest of the room, you can then go back up to the platform and you should be able to start attacking it. Aside from that, the level is pretty straight forward.

-------
Daihellm - Kelly
-You are required to use Kelly to fight this boss, but fortunately Kelly's drive gun can really shred this boss.
	-Phase 1: At the start of the level, move forward a bit and take out your drive gun. If you position yourself in just the right spot, it will open up to attack, then it will move slightly to hover over your head and drop down to crush you. If your standing in the right place, you don’t have to move, just keep firing the drive gun. If you did it right, it should quickly lose about half of its health and wont come back up off the ground.
	-Phase 2: When it’s on the ground, try to time your jump so you can get as high as possible above it while it’s vulnerable and shoot down at it with the drive gun. You don't need to bother trying to hover over the boss before you fire, the drive gun by itself keeps Kelly somewhat suspended in the air already.

-------
Civ Base 2 - Sab
-Yet another mission where you have to clear all enemies, so I use Sab once again. While dropping down, try to shoot the enemies as soon as you can so you don’t have to stop too much while you are falling.  This is the first level where you encounter the cloaking enemies (Hugin). You’ll have to memorize their locations and anticipate when and where they will materialize so you can eliminate them as quickly as possible. They usually appear at the same spot the first time they materialize, so they aren’t too difficult to deal with.

-------
STORE
-Reserve Fuel Cell
		I just buy this here for Valley 3. It’s useful in the last half to give you some extra energy for meteor-crashes to destroy the spawners faster.

-Shield Gen Level 2
		I also pick up the shield gen level 2 early on while I'm at it, just for insurance against accidentally dying to Nidhogg later on.

-------
Valley 3 - Sab
-This mission is a little different. You only need to eliminate all of the spawners, not the enemies. Sab can destroy them faster so, I end up using him for this mission. In the last half there is an ant-hill covered in spawners, but its pretty hard to lock-on to them while there are enemies constantly crawling over them, so its a good idea to use up your energy to charge through them. If you bought the reserve fuel cell, then you should have plenty of energy to use on this part of the level. When you reach the end of this map, make sure you leave one spawner alive so that you can grab the core first before the level ends. There is a spawner high up near the top of the last area that I leave alive for this purpose.

-------
STORE
-Reserve fuel cell
		It’s very important to grab a reserve fuel cell here, you will need it to get through Naglfar’s Pit 1 as quickly as possible.

-------
Naglfar's Pit 1 - Sab
-On this mission, you don't have to eliminate any enemies except for the boss at the end. Using your reserve fuel cell, you can simply meteor-crash all the way up to the top without touching any of the platforms, which saves a ton of time. While it is possible to charge up your suit before fighting this boss, it unfortunately doesn't end up doing any extra damage to it. I’ve found that Sab is faster than Kelly for eliminating this particular boss.

Btw, this boss can actually still kill you AFTER you get the "mission clear!!" message if it's projectile is still moving around, and it will ruin your run (it happened to me). So watch out for that.

-------
Nidhogg - Kelly
-This boss, however, is vulnerable to the extra damage if you charge up your suit. It isn't easy, though, because you will have to stay in the air while dodging his attacks, which can be difficult. Kelly is required here so you don't have a choice.

-------
Civ Base 3 - Sab
-You don't have to eliminate enemies on this map, you can just drop straight down (although, don't mess up while grabbing the core on this level, like I did in my run!). But I still use Sab anyway because he can break through the barriers in one shot, kill enemies and collect extra GVP on the way down without stopping. And if you charge up his suit he can still destroy the Daihellm boss at the end really quickly.
	-Phase1: Stand underneath the boss and look up. As soon as it opens its mouth, meteor-crash straight up into it. If you hit it right, it will instantly deal a massive amount of damage.
	-Phase2: While you are in the air, charge up your suit all the way. Once charged, start hovering in the air, look down, and attack the boss while it does it’s spinning attack until it is defeated.

-------
STORE
-Lock-on Upgrade
		This allows Kelly to lock on to multiple enemies at once, useful on Naglfar's Pit 2.

-Drive Gun Upgrade 2
		Also needed for Naglfar's Pit 2

-Plasma Hook Upgrade 2
		This will be needed for the Yggdrasill levels.

-------
Naglfar's Pit 2 - Kelly
-On this mission you still have to eliminate all enemies, but due to the type of enemies on this map, I actually found Kelly to be the faster Character here. By this point you should also have Drive Gun Upgrade 2 which will help take down enemies faster. Just start from the top and work your way down through the map. There is a pathway I came up with through the enemies that seemed to work best for me, which is what I use in my run.

-------
Yggdrasill 1 - Sab
-This is another mission to eliminate all enemies, and once again Sab seems to be the fastest here. The hardest part of this level are just the stealthy enemies that appear and disappear, which are very easy to miss on your way down. Unfortunately I ended up struggling with them quite a bit in my run. When you reach the door, just turn around and there will be one more enemy that materializes behind you.

-------
Mimir - Kelly
-There are multiple enemies in this Boss fight, and each of them goes through the same 3 phases depending on how much damage they took. At first it may seem like you have to get lucky to beat this quickly, but with practice you’ll learn to keep track of what phase each of them is in, and be able to predict their movement, which helps make it feel less random. While they are all in the ground, fly around and charge up your suit so you always have some energy to attack when they are vulnerable.
	-Phase1: If you can position yourself right when they are about to come out of the ground, you can easily just Napalm them in their face as soon as they come up. Just two of these attacks will drop their health down enough to get them into phase 2.
	-Phase 2: Use the meteor-crash attack to hit them as when they pop out of the ground. If you can dash through them twice, and land one or two shot on them that should be enough to get them to their final phase.
	-Phase 3: Just like phase 1, you can simply napalm them in the face as soon as they come out of the ground to take them down quickly.

-------
Yggdrasill 2 - Kelly
-This map is simply a climb to the top. Use the grapple and the jump pads to gain height quickly. There was a very specific path which I used in my run to reach the core as fast as I could. This is the final core in the game, so collecting it will unlock the final version of Kelly’s suit.  With the suit fully upgraded, you can just meteor-crash the rest of the way to the exit and finish the map quickly.

-------
Svart - Kelly
-You don't get an option for Sab here, only Kelly. But with the suit upgraded, you can Kelly's level 3 gearskin on this boss as well as the final boss. I’ve found that the fully-charged heat gun actually deals damage to this boss more quickly than the drive gun.

The boss here becomes vulnerable only after you’ve eliminated enough of the enemies on the ground. So make sure to kill them as quickly as possible. Try to finish charging your suit while you kill the last enemy, so that you are ready to damage the boss with charged shots immediately when it drops it’s shield, and so you can stay charged the entire time that it’s vulnerable. If you fail to charge up your suit for the attack, then use the drive gun instead of the heat gun.

-------
Ivaldi - Kelly
-Since you can now use meteor-crashes forever without consuming fuel, you can use meteor-crashes to pommel Ivaldi repeatedly and kill him quickly. Sometimes the meteor-crashes deal massive damage, and sometimes they don't - I'm not sure exactly what the trick is for this. But regardless, regular weapons are much less effective so the level 3 gearskin is pretty useful here. Although I do wonder if it might still be possible to defeat him quickly and consistently enough without the level 3 gearskin, I am not sure. Keep in mind that Ivaldi has a rechargable shield that you have to take out first (with a meteor-crash) before you can start doing actual damage to him.

Spire

Gunvalkyrie

Xbox