36sweaters' Any% guide

This guide should cover all Any% runs, including specific magic type runs.

Enter the Keep:
This split is very simple. Just talk to all npcs (barring the annalist) as quickly as possible. I also like to check the possible upgrades for the run. Then, go to the keep. This split should take about 30 seconds.

Floor 1 - Floor 3:
For these splits, try to clear each of these floors (or at least most of them). You want to level up enough to be able to defeat enemies on the higher floors, and these floors are the fastest to clear. Collect as much gold as possible here. Other than that these splits are relatively straightforward. These splits should take about 2:30 to 3:00 a piece.

Floor 4:
This split is special because there is a boss fight. Charles the Hammer should be dealt with quickly and efficiently. Refer to the boss key strategies at the bottom of the page. Charles is very easy to beat, as he doesn't have a lot of health and he has to be forced out of his room by other enemies in order to leave the room. If you run out of health or mana you can take a short break by exiting the room. Just don't get too close to him, as his hammer swings do a fair amount of damage. After defeating Charles, clear enough rooms to make yourself level up, and then ascend to the next floor. This should take about 3:00.

Floor 5 - Floor 7:
For these splits, ascend the stairs as soon as you find them. Clear a couple of extra rooms on floor 7 if floor 5 and 6 were completed too quickly to gain substantial exp.

Floor 8:
The Bone Daddy is the hardest boss of the speedrun. Unfortunately, he is not optional because he blocks the staircase. Remember to use the magic key to go buy a couple of health potions. Refer to the boss key strategies at the bottom of the page. 
Fireball fares the best against Bone Daddy in most cases due to it and its subskills' high damage output. If you are running Magic Missile, you will need at least More Missiles 2 in order to defeat this boss in any sort of reasonable time. For Lightning you'll need at least Lightning 4. For Frost Jet your only requirement is to have Cone of Ice 1 in order to deal with the stupid grub babies. 
Try your best to avoid Bone Daddy's vomit and drink a health potion if you get hit and your health goes critical. Unless you can perform the Lightning Cheese Strat, do NOT EVER walk to the side of the Bone Daddy. His bone attack may lack poison damage but it more than makes up for that by depleting your health bar in a single hit.
(The Lightning Cheese Strat may only performed if both of the following conditions are met: 1) You are running Lightning (obviously) and 2) There is a door into the boss room close enough to the left or right of the Bone Daddy that you can see his head when you exit the room. To perform this strategy, start firing Lightning at the Bone Daddy and then exit the room and hide behind the wall. If done correctly, your Lightning will clip through the wall and continue to hit the Bone Daddy even while you are outside the range of his attacks.)
After defeating the Bone Daddy, go straight up the stairs.

Floor 9 and Floor 10:
At this point you should have enough money for the wizard chug. Use the magic key and buy it if it appears in the shop, and stock up on health potions afterward. If it's not in the shop, try again on every floor after this. Buy health potions, but make sure you still have at least 2500 gold when you're done.
You have now entered high avoidance mode. Find the stairs as fast as possible and go up immediately.

Floor 11:
This floor contains Monoculus. Refer to the boss key strategies at the bottom of the page.
How to beat Monoculus: Don't. Walk around him and up the stairs.

Floor 12:
Same deal as Floors 9 and 10. Maybe use the magic key and get more health potions.

Floor 13:
We have now reached the end of the game. You will now fight the Infernal, and then Solomon Dark.

The Infernal:
This boss has 3 attacks: a close range chomp, a triple shot of double eye lasers, and a volley of fireballs. The first attack is very easy to dodge (just don't get close). The second attack is a bit more difficult to dodge but isn't super dangerous unless you're surrounded by fire (we'll get to that in a sec). The third attack is very easy to dodge, as it won't hit you if you don't move, but it is still very dangerous. Walking into the fire eats your health faster than getting cornered by those giant fire minotaur things from floors 9 to 12. This fire combines really well with the laser beams because while they don't deal a lot of damage, they have considerable knockback. AVOID THE FIRE AT ALL COSTS. IT WILL KILL YOU.

After defeating the Infernal, drink the wizard's chug. If you don't have it... well... 安らかに眠る

Solomon Dark:
This guy is pathetic when you have the wizard's chug. Any magic will eat through his shield and his health. Use health potions when you need to. Once you defeat him, he'll start to explode. As soon as the "Level up!" message appears at the top of the screen, you have completed your run!



Level up priorities:
Here are my preferences for choosing level ups: (items in parenthesis are conditional substitutes and numbers in brackets mean they only take priority until you have upgraded them to that level. priority is from top to bottom)

Battle Mage [5]
Ring of Fire [2] (Teleport)
Magic Missile/Embers/Frost Jet/Lightning
Telekinesis (more useful if obtained early on, but is a qol update later on)
Channel Mana [3]
More Missiles/Explosion/Cone of Ice/Chaining
Magic Shield
Potent Missiles[1]/Fireball/Chill Wind[1]/Stun[1]
Secondary Focus
Rush
Mana up (Magic Circle)
Creativity
(All other skill are either unobtainable during the run or have very limited usage during a run)

In all honesty though, these will always be changing on the fly, so just do what you want. I constantly break these rules, especially when I get specific item sets.





Boss key strategies:

If the boss room is connected to the first room:
Go to the nearest room not blocked by the door. Clear the room and open all chests that may be present in the room. Go back to the boss door and walk into it until the "Need a key" message appears at the top of the screen. The boss key will now spawn in a chest in either the first room or the second room (90% of the time it's the second room).

If the boss room is NOT connected to the first room:
The boss room will USUALLY spawn within two rooms of the first room (I say usually because this isn't ALWAYS the case, but it will be in this range most of the time.) Find the boss room as quickly as possible, taking care to clear every room you pass. When you find the boss room walk into the door until the "Need a key" message appears at the top of the screen. The boss key will now spawn in a chest in one of the rooms you have been in already.

36sweaters

Solomon's Keep

Android

v1.6

v1.5

v1.7

Version

Error regarding timing of runs in which the player dies

New Cutscene skip

v 1.7