The bow route uses a 3rd-run format, with some major departures from the old 3rd-run route. Namely, there is no darkness farm required, and you don’t use Stygius. In the best case scenario, this route might be able to reach times as low as 23 minutes, but we need to do some more testing to figure out just how fast it can go. Below is a guide in extreme detail on how to optimize your preparation for the run.

Sword Technique

Because we are only going to be using the Sword for the very beginning of Tartarus, this section will not be a complete guide on Sword.

There are 3 main attacks that we will be using on the Sword: Special, Cast, and Dash-strike. These can be tied together in various combinations depending on which enemy you are facing.

• Special -> Dash-strike -- This is the OG sword combo. It is fast, mobile, and will deal 80 damage in a very short amount of time.
• Cast -> Dash-strike -- This is the new and improved sword combo. It still does 80 damage, but it does it even faster.
• Cast -> Dash-strike -> Special -> Dash-strike -- This combo will very quickly tear down a Thug.
• Special -> Cast -> Dash-strike -- I use this combo a lot. It adds almost no extra time to your Special -> Dash-strike combo, but it almost doubles the damage output.

At all times, make sure you are keeping track of where you’re going next. At the end of your combos, your dash is going to be on cooldown. Few things are as annoying as realizing you’re on the wrong side of the room and your single dash is on cooldown.

Bow Technique

With the increased damage and reduced recovery time that Bow got in 1.0, a whole new world of possibilities opens up.

There are 3 attacks that we use on the Bow: Dash-strike, Special, and Cast. Here are some tips on how to use them effectively:

• Special does the most damage when you shotgun the enemy. A great way to use this attack is to stand directly next to a summoning circle, and special as soon as the enemy is vulnerable. Preferably, shoot them in the back, as it does significantly more damage - especially with Exposed.
• Dash-strikes do less damage per hit, but are far more mobile and charge faster. Try to Power-Shot as much as possible.
• Your Special has a short cooldown before you can use it again. To get the most damage you’ll want to alternate dash-strikes and specials as quickly as possible. Stay as close to the enemy as you can, and just keep the combo going.
• If you have a cast with some damage on it, like Athena or Aphrodite, use it whenever you can to apply Exposed/Weak.

Run 1

Chamber 1

Dash as quickly to the door as possible. You will want to time your dashes - mashing the dash button wastes a lot of time and energy. You’ll want to dash somewhere around 95-105bpm. Check your timing on this website, and then practice in-game until you do not miss any dashes. With perfect timing, you can get to the first door in under 4 seconds.

Chamber 2 - Athena Room

Nothing in Fresh File is more iconic than the Athena Room. You will clear this room dozens, if not hundreds of times. Everything about this room is predetermined - things will play out the exact same, no matter what your seed is. That means with enough practice we can optimize it perfectly.

There are 4 waves to the Athena room.

1. One Thug. As soon as you enter the room, a Thug will be sitting in the middle. Dash two times towards it, then cast. As your cast is traveling towards the Thug, dash-strike. You’ll probably need to dash and then strike, to get the little extra reach. Then special, and dash-strike again to kill it.

2. Two Thugs. As the two thugs spawn, stand directly between them. Let each of them hit you twice, for a total of 40 damage, adjusting your position as needed so you take all 4 hits. As soon as the 4th hit lands, Dash straight right, Special, then Dash-strike straight left. If you do it properly, the thugs will both die immediately.

3. Three Witches. These witches can spawn in a different order, depending on your position in the room, but the locations will always be the same - two at the bottom, one at the top. To kill them, you’ll want to Cast and then Dash-strike as they spawn. If you miss, or lose your cast, you can substitute a Special instead.

4. Three Witches, One Thug. This is the final wave, and is the most tricky to get right. The best way to clear this wave is to stand directly above the Thug as it spawns. As soon as it’s vulnerable, Special, then Cast, then Dash-strike through it, down to wear the two Witches are spawning. With the correct angle, you can catch the Witch on the left with your Dash-strike as well. Then Special both Witches and the Thug, and then Dash-strike the Witch on the right. All three of these enemies should now be dead. Now dash straight up once, Cast at the final Witch, and then Dash-strike to finish the room right next to the exit.

Here is a video of a semi-perfect clear of the Athena Room: If you do it properly, and enter the room in less than 4 seconds, you can finish the Athena Room in under 28 seconds in-game time, and about 58 seconds real-time.

Take the Athena Cast, and then see what the next reward is.

Chamber 3 - Key Reward

If your reward for chamber 3 is a Key, clear the room. This chamber is not set, so you’ll just have to use the combos listed above to clear the room efficiently. Pick up your Key, walk through the next door, and die as quickly as possible. With efficient combat and damage, you can reach your first death in as little as 1:25 real-time.

Chamber 3 - Darkness Reward

If your reward for Chamber 3 is Darkness, just die as soon as possible. Because of the 40 damage taken in the Athena Room, you only need to take 10 damage to die. If you find a Thug, or two spike traps, you can reach your first death in as little as 1:08 real-time.

Between Run 1 and Run 2**

Pity Darkness

If you try to access the Mirror of Night without having any Darkness, you get 10 free darkness. Take this darkness and immediately put it into Shadow Presence, for the extra 10% backstab damage.

Bow

If you were able to pick up your first Key in Run 1, you should go and equip Bow now.

Run 2

The first boon of Run 2 is always Zeus. He will offer some combination of Attack, Special, Cast, and Dash. You should take Special if it is offered, and Cast if it is not.

If you have already unlocked the Bow, die as quickly as possible. There is some thought required to this. If the first chamber has 4 Numbskulls, kill them as quickly as possible and die in Chamber 2 instead. If the first chamber has 2 Thugs, just die in the first chamber. Anything in between and you’ll have to try to decide which way is faster.

If you have not already unlocked the Bow, clear rooms until you find a Key, pick it up and then die.

With good RNG, you can reach your second death following either path at about 2:25 real-time.

Between Run 2 and Run 3

Fountain

After your second run, the Contractor offers you Tartarus Fountains for free. These are not guaranteed to appear, but save you a ton of time if they do, so unlock them.

Bow

Make sure you have the Bow unlocked and equipped.

Hammer

The first offering of Run 3 is always a Hammer. Your priority for this should be the following, in order:

• Charged Volley: This is an absolutely insane amount of damage, especially if you charge it while enemies are spawning

• Twin Shot: This was the only good Bow hammer for a long time. It will buff your Dash-strike damage a fairly significant amount.

• Concentrated Volley: This Hammer offers plenty of damage, as long as you are able to shotgun the enemy properly. The more arrows you hit, the harder the damage ramps.

• Relentless Volley: While it does not offer as much damage as Charged Volley or Concentrated Volley, Relentless Volley is still a very solid buff. Just make sure you keep in mind that your Special animation is longer, so you’ll be more vulnerable.

• Point-Blank Shot: This is the only other Hammer worth taking. You’ll be in melee range of enemies at all times, thanks to having to shotgun them with your special, so this is just a free buff to your attack.

If one of the above hammers is not offered, just reset. Playing without them will be a slow and painful process, that you can avoid by just starting over. With a setup time of under 3 minutes, there’s no real reason not to.

Build

The best build for Bow on Fresh File is the tried and true AAA. Artemis, Aphrodite, and Athena. Which goddess goes where will decide on your Hammer and playstyle.

Attack

Your Attack does not matter quite as much as your Special, but is still a lot of damage. My typical go-to is either Artemis or Aphrodite - whichever is not on your Special. This will open up Heart Rend, which is a lot of extra damage.

Special

Your Special is likely to be the bulk of your damage, and will depend heavily on which Hammer you were offered.

• If you have Charged Volley, Aphrodite Special will absolutely melt anything you point it at.

• If you have Relentless Volley, the longer animation will leave you a little vulnerable, and that makes the Deflect from Athena Special extremely valuable.

• If you have Concentrated Volley, your base damage will not be high enough to really benefit from the consistency of Aphrodite Special, so you will want Artemis Special instead.

None of this is definitive - if you want to put Aphrodite on Concentrated Volley, you can, and you’ll probably have a decent amount of success with it. This is just what I’ve found to be the most comfortable with my play-style.

Cast

Your cast is an open slot, and you can put whatever you want on there. I generally try to put Athena or Poseidon on there, to open up Sweet Nectar or Parting Shot, but it’s entirely up to you.

Dash

There are two options for Dash on Bow. If you do not have an Athena core boon, you should take Athena Dash. Parting Shot, the Athena/Aphrodite duo, is very strong on Fresh File. The Backstab modifier is a lot of extra damage, and with only 10% Backstab in the Mirror, you’ll want all the buffs you can get.

*Enjoy your time running Fresh File, the official best Hades Speedrunning category.