just finished my run for submission i have 5/6 unlocks for iron clad but tbh i didnt even use them. I don't think there are any hard rules yet. Id say just enforce no whale for help.
Relics are kinda needed to go fast and they make the game better and more enjoyable to play.
If unlocks are allowed it's a precedent for allowing previous gameplay to influence the run. I'm in favour of that, but if that's the case then the precedent is there to allow using the whale bonus at the start. Unless we wanna just arbitrarily allow unlocks and ban whale.
I'd think of it more like everyone is capable of unlocking everything before they start running the game but the whale adds an element where you are forced to keep restarting and then farming to boss 1 to get a boss relic for +1 energy.
Do you really want to have to restart over and over until you get the perfect item for a run?
There are many other RNG speedrun games where you restart over and over until you start with a stronger item. I'm not sure I'm fully convinced on banning whale outright. Maybe making a separate category, though, we could consider. A "Whale%" or a "NoWhale%" category?
As far as unlocks go, it only takes about 15-20 playthroughs on a class to unlock everything. Even if you're not trying... if you're speedrunning this game to any capacity, you will have all unlocks.
Any% seems pretty self explanatory. You use the whale, or you don't, you can do whatever it takes within the rules.
