Any% Guide

# Release History

v1.0.0 - July 13th, 2022.

# Introduction

These are my personal notes cleaned up for public use. I wouldn't go as far as to call this a guide, but hopefully this will be useful. If you have any questions, send me a DM. I'm happy to help anyone get into this fun game.

# General Notes

* Bats and skeletons are more likely to drop health items than other enemies, so kill them if needed.
* Thunder magic is weak, but it's long range is useful early on. Make use of it.
* Despite guides to the contrary, there are no max health requirements to collect any items. You can collect every item and spell in the game at 3 hearts.
* Earth Magic is your best friend. You'll need it to destroy blocks, but freezing enemies is a lifesaver. This this magic on any annoying teleporting enemies or clams and you'll have a much easier time.

# TAS Guide

Zoboner completed a TAS of this game in 30:49.10 and there's quite a few important notes for us RTA runners. I especially recommend checking out the enemy drop and weapon damage tables. 

https://tasvideos.org/5473S

# Overworld Map

This map hosted on GameFAQs is a great resource and I will use the coordinates from that map for my guide. The map is unfortunately missing some items (e.g. the 50 horn cave in E15), but overall it's incredibly helpful.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/sms/588075-golden-axe-warrior/map/4872-overworld-map

# Walkthrough

The overworld sections in this game are quite simple, so I'm going to quickly list which coordinates to go to and what to do when you're there. You can look at the world map separately to route this out. The dungeons. on the other hand, are where the challenge comes in. I'll be providing full maps with directions and notes on some optional items.

I recommend downloading the dungeon maps and viewing them in full screen.

# Lab 1

H12 
* Enter bottom house and find Golden Apple in the fireplace

J11 
* Enter Lab 1

https://i.ibb.co/jHPqckQ/lab1.jpg

Deathwarp after killing boss.

# Lab 2

J12 
* Enter house to get Health Container 

G14 
* Slash trees on right entrance to open path on left 
* Slash the trees to find the entrance to the cave in the middle 
* Talk to Gillian twice to trade Golden Apple for Thunder Magic 
* We don't need Thunder Magic in the run, but it is required for the Long Sword 

E15 
* Slash trees to find hidden cave for 50 horns 

G13 
* Enter Lab 2 

https://i.ibb.co/m6LWwcZ/lab2.jpg

# Lab 3

Death Warp to return to F9 

E9 
* OPTIONAL -- Use inn

F8 
* Use Axe on tree 

C3 
* Enter Lab 3 

https://i.ibb.co/XsYbTGy/lab3.jpg

# Lab 4

Deathwarp to return to F9 
Money Check 
* You should have at least 40 horns for the upcoming shopping trip.

E9 
* Use Inn

E11 
* Cut 3rd tree from right for 30 horns 

C11 
* Climb mountain 

D10 
* Cut middle right tree and spend 50 horns for Earth Magic 

B10 
* Cut 2nd right tree for 30 horns 

A8 
* Cut 2nd top tree in column for 100 horns 

A6 
* Climb mountain 

A5 
* Enter cave and get Long Sword 

A7 
* Cut trees and cross to right side 

A6 
* Earth Magic on middle rock, 6th from right for 50 horns 

B7 
* Kill enemies to reveal shop 
* Buy 4 Keys and 1 Magic Feather (200 horns) 
* If you're short, skip some keys. Pick up an extra key or two in Lab 4 (see lab map) 

C3
* Climb Mountain at B4 
* Chop trees in the way 
* Use earth magic on far right rock to get magic potion 

D4 
* Use Earth Magic on rock 

A1 
* Enter Lab 4 

https://i.ibb.co/Z8ZTyZL/lab4.jpg

After beating the boss, you can either deathwarp as indicated on the map or walk out of the dungeon. Walking out costs ~20 seconds, but entering the next dungeon with full MP is helpful for the boss. If you walk out, you can also easily pick up the key at 5,2 now that you have the canoe. Your choice.

# Lab 5

D1 
* Climb down mountain on west side with rope 

C2 
* Enter west house for 100 horns 

C3 
* Chop middle tree to enter shop 

**Plate Mail**

I3 
* Climb left stairs

H2 
* Kill enemies to reveal cave with Plate Mail 
* Recommend Earth Magic on red dude

**Heart Container**

I3 
* Climb right stairs

I1 
* Cut tree around rock 
* Earth Magic on rock 
* Get Heart Container 

J4 
* Enter Lab 5 

https://i.ibb.co/61PJLyx/lab5.jpg

# Lab 7 (7 -> 8 -> 6)

L1 
* Long walk. See map 
* Enter Lab 7 

https://i.ibb.co/nzQ5cgW/lab6-7.jpg

# Lab 8

Magic Feather to F9 
* If you're skipping the Dragon Mail, this should take you to H5. Continue on to the Flame Sword. 

**Dragon Mail Detour**

C14 
* Get 30 horns in cave
* Skip this if you have plenty of money

C15 
* Cut bottom trees to reveal shop 
* Buy Magic Feather for 30 

A13 
* Sail 

B11 
* Get Dragon Mail 
* Magic Feather to F9 

H7 
* Enter Forest Maze and follow this path to get out 
* SE, N, NE, S, N 

K5 
* Sail 

K6 
* Get Flame Sword 
* Sail 

K5 
* Dock 

M9 
* Use Earth Magic on bottom right grave to reveal save point 
* Save game to activate warp point 

N8 
* Kill enemies to reveal shop 
* Buy Magic Feather for 30 horns 
* Buy Meat for 20 horns (Skip if you're healthy)

M3 
* Chop trees to reveal cave 
* Pay 10 horns to travel through tunnel to L2 

K1 
* Sail 

J2 
* Enter Lab 8 

https://i.ibb.co/WsWsp1t/lab7-8.jpg

# Lab 6

Magic Feather to M9 

L8 
* Enter Lab 6 

https://i.ibb.co/mGLf8gg/lab8-6.jpg

# Lab 9

N8 
* Buy Meat for 20 horns 
* Buy Magic Feather for 30 horns 
* If you're short on money, skip the feather and walk back from dungeon 9 instead. 
* If you have lots of money, buy a Magic Oil as a safety.

M4 
* Enter leftmost house for Dragon Shield 

L10 
* Sail 

K10 
* Use Ice Bell to reveal cave 
* Get Water Magic 
* We mainly get this to restore MP, but occasionally it's useful in the final dungeon 

L11 
* Dock 

*L12 (west side)
* Chop trees 
* Use Ice Bell to remove totem 

L14 
* Enter Lab 9 

https://i.ibb.co/4g6Lm6q/lab9.jpg

# Final Lab

Magic Feather to M9 

L8 
* Watch cutscene

J8 
* Enter the final dungeon 

This is a long, confusing dungeon with a lot of teleporters. To make it easier to follow, I split the map into two -- one map is up to finding the Golden Axe and the second map is from the Golden Axe to Death Adder. I have also erased the rooms we don't enter to reduce visual noise.

**The Golden Axe**

https://i.ibb.co/FzN0P55/labX-1.jpg

**Death Adder**

https://i.ibb.co/kGV82h8/labX-2.jpg

# Advanced Strats

**Skip Dragon Mail**

While on the way to Dungeon 5, stop in at H5 and use the save point to trigger the warp point. You can also use the inn here to heal if you did a death warp in Dungeon 4. After Dungeon 7, use the Magic Feather to warp to H5 and get the Flame Sword.

This is a huge time save and definitely recommended once you get comfortable with the run.

**Skip Dragon Shield**

Self-explanatory. Skip the Dragon Shield after Dungeon 6 and go on with the game. Should save about 30 or 40 seconds.

**Skip Magic Container**

The Magic Container at B4 can be skipped without much of a problem.

**Skip Heart Containers**

The Heart Container at I1 is pretty easy to cut out of the route, but the early heart container at J12 is a big help.

# Random Ideas

There are random ideas I've had, but I haven't routed them out or done any serious testing.

**Do Dungeon Order 1 -> 3 -> 2**

Here are my rough thoughts

* Get Golden Apple
* Beat Dungeon 1
* J12 Heart Container (skip???)
* Get 50 horns at E15 (skip???)
* Trade Golden Apple for Thunder Magic
* Deathwarp to F9
* Beat Dungeon 3
* Save game at C5
* Get Long Sword
* Get 100 horn at A7
* Get 30 Horn at B10
* Get Earth Magic
* Get 30 Horn at E11
* Buy 3 Keys and 1 Magic Feather at F10
* Beat dungeon 2
* Death warp to C5
* Go to Dungeon 4

**Skip Long Sword**

According to the TAS, it takes 2:28 to get the Long Sword (hearth + golden apple + exchange + getting the sword). With this skip, we only have to complete dungeons 4, 5, and 6 with the Battle Axe and we can maybe reroute the first three dungeons. Not sure if this is viable.

**Skip All Armor and Shields**

This would be a big time save, but the damage would be crazy. Not sure if this is viable.

**Skip Water Magic**

We really only get the water magic to restore our MP for dungeon 9. We could skip this, but given how quick it is I'm not even sure if it would be a time save. Need to test.

**Buy fewer keys**

Do we really need 4 keys? If we skip a key or two, we could skip the 100 horn cave in C2.

# Todo List

Here's a list of things I need to find out.

- Figure out how defense works
- Determine damage of Thunder Magic and Earth Magic on enemies, mini bosses, and bosses.

Quarbit

Golden Axe Warrior