Hello all. I'm relatively new to this community and I have been running the True Arena for a bit now. I was wondering if there are particular abilities that are the best and most widely used. My current strat is Hammer, but I've had some trouble optimizing. If anyone has any advice, I would love to hear it.
Hello, well if you look at videos for the best used powers you can get an idea of what kind of movement you'll need to make hammer work. http://www.speedrun.com/run/yo42ov1m
I don't have the time to elaborate right now, but I can give you my True Arena sum-of-bests if you'd like a reference.
Whispy Woods = 10:64 (easy) Lololo & Lalala = 10:97 (try to beat them both in two passes, if you can) Kracko Jr. = 6:49 (as long as Kracko Jr. does his dive attack, you should get this time almost every single time) Kracko Sr. = 11:24 (practice hitting Kracko Sr. while he's bobbing up and down in place; it'll take practice and some rhythm adjustment, but you'll get it eventually) Kabula = 11:53 (make sure Kabula dies at the edge of the screen) Mid-Bosses = 17:02 (if you face them first, bring copy and a Bonkers helper; otherwise, don't bother) Masked Dedede = 13:92 (RNG boss, usually takes ~23 seconds) Wham Bam Jewel = 17:77 (try to hurt him around the frame that his hand first appears, but that's a risky strat) Galacta Knight = 31:53 (he won't always summon minions, if you're lucky; I'm not sure if this behavior can be manipulated) Marx Soul = 59:55 (RNG boss)
Hope this helps!
Thanks a ton! This'll really help, now that I have individual times to compare.
I've done a few practice runs now, and I've noticed that I've had the most trouble with optimizing the Krackos and Lololo & Lalala fights. Any particular suggestions?
I'm back, so I'll elaborate more on my strats.
(1) Whispy's Revenge
Whispy is an incredibly east boss, especially with the hammer. When speedrunning however, you'll want to be mindful of how quickly you attack him, because he has deceptively long invincibility frames.
When you enter Whispy's purple-covered domain, start running and Hammer Swing over the first ledge. Before you land on the second ledge, make sure to perform a mid-air hammer swing (otherwise Kirby will do his bouncing animation, which wastes milleseconds). From there, dive down from the second ledge.
Before you land in Whispy's Arena, whack him under the nose while still in mid-air, then Hammer Flip him 2 times. After that, walk a little to the left and whack Whispy with a regular hammer attack (this'll save you some frames), and then finish him off with 1 final Hammer Flip.
Watch out for those apples by the way, because they can actually hurt you if you're not fast enough.
You'll want to finish this fight in under 11 seconds, which isn't all that difficult to do... because, you know, it's Whispy.
(2) Lololo & Lalala's Revenge
During the first pass, you'll ideally want to whack both bosses with your hammer 4 to 5 times, or 1 hammer flip + 3 regular hits. Before the second pass, Hammer Flip at one of the spawn points and hope that one of them spawns there; if the gamble pays off, then you can easily finish them both during the second pass; otherwise, just try to finish the fight within 3 passes as best you can.
Preferrably, you want both bosses to be within 1 level from you at all times. If you're on the bottom floor, and both spawn on the top 2 floors, consider the run dead. And if you run into a Gordo, consider that run dead too (seriously, what's up with that knockback?).
Overall, this fight is a crapshoot. It can take as little as 11 seconds, but you don't want to spend more than 18 seconds. If you'd like my recommendation, I'd say that 15 seconds or lower is a reasonable goal.
(3) Kracko Jr.'s Revenge
Kracko Jr. is the quickest fight in the True Arena, yet it's also somewhat tricky to master.
Here's the basic outline for your movements (if he does his oscillating dive): (1) Immediately, run up to Kracko Jr. (2) Slow down to walking speed, then immediately jump towards him. (3) Swing your hammer at him (while in mid-air). (4) Fall back towards the left. (5) Turn around and immediately fire up a Hammer Flip. (6) Walk a little to the left. (7) Hammer Flip again.
If you execute all of these steps correctly (even if Kracko Jr. accidentally scrapes you between #5 and #6), you should finish the fight in 0:06:49 every single time. That said though, this strategy will take some practice.
If Kracko Jr. decides to make a B-line to the left-side however, you can still finish the fight in 0:06:99.
(4) Kracko Sr.'s Revenge
Kracko Sr. is another tricky fight to master.
When the fight starts, position yourself on the 3rd magenta tile from the right side:
.............................X.................... [M][Y][M][Y][M][Y][M][Y][M][Y][M]
From there, charge up your first Hammer Flip slightly before he stops discharging his purply cloud particles (he will bob down the moment you unleash your flip). The timing window here is pretty strict, so you'll want to practice this.
After the flip, immediately jump up and swing your hammer mid-air.
From there, Kracko Sr. will do either one of two things: (1) he'll casual float over to the left side, or (2) he'll try to ram into you on the ground. Either way, try to get 1 hit in while he passes.
Shortly thereafter, you'll then want to execute a second hammer flip when Kracko Sr.'s eye is above the 2nd magenta tile from the left...
.....{....K....}..X............................. [M][Y][M][Y][M][Y][M][Y][M][Y][M]
...then finish him off with a couple more mid-air whacks (you can phase through his beam attack while jumping).
This fight will only take a little over 11 seconds when executed correctly.
(5) Kabula
Kabula is a pretty hectic boss to speedrun, and I have died to it a few times before (mainly if I'm playing sloppily); but generally, you want to get close and personal with Kabula, and mash that "A" button like Dedede at an all-you-can-eat buffet (holding the "A" button makes the fight last longer). Right in the nose, or even while inside the hitbox!
Don't worry about taking damage here, as Kabula will most likely die before you do. Also, try to avoid attacking Kabula's cannon if you can, as its invincibility frames will devour your shots.
Kabula is somewhat of a crapshoot too; but typically, you'd want to finish it between 11 and 14 seconds. You can increase your chances of reaching that time window by killing Kabula at or close to the edge of your screen.
(6) True Mid-Boss All Stars (1st-fight)
For this particular strat, you want to grab the "Copy" ability and a Bonkers helper.
For the first boss (Mr. Tick Tock), use your copy attack around the same frame that he first appears (0:00:92), and then spam your newly-acquired Mike ability. If you can lay the finishing eardrum-buster before 0:01:40, you're in good shape.
For the second boss (Grand Wheelie), spam Mike as soon as he appears. Pretty simple. However, after he dies, you'll want to run towards him (and Bonkers will jumps towards him as well), and you want Bonkers to make the finishing blow with his mid-air hammer swing (it's a tricky movement, but it saves time). Immediately after Grand Wheelie disappears or explodes, convert your Bonkers helper into your "Hammer" ability.
For the third boss (Phan Phan), you'll want to Hammer Flip him as he descends, then whack him 2 times, and finally ram into him with a Hammer Swing. Ideally, immediately after Phan Phan dies, you'll want to jump and do a mid-air hammer attack after your Hammer Swing animation; it may seem like a risky strat, but it's surprisingly safe. I'm not sure what's going on with those hitboxes...
And for the fourth boss (Fire Lion), do the exact same thing as you would with Phan Phan.
This strat should ideally take between 17 and 18 seconds to execute.
(6) True Mid-Boss All Stars (post-1st-fight)
This strat is mostly identical to the 1st-fight one; the only difference is how you would take on Mr. Tick Tock.
For Mr. Tick Tock, Hammer Flip as he descends, then do 3 regular hammer attacks. From there, temporarily summon a Bonkers helper, inhale the boss for Mike, and wreak havoc as always.
This strat should ideally take between 19 and 20 seconds to execute.
Oh, wow! Thank you so, so much! This'll help a ton! You guys are awesome!
On the subject of the community: I was wondering if there's any way I could get more involved. I know I'm new, but I was just thinking that getting more involved would be a great experience.
Hey JoeyS111, there's a Kirby speedrunning discord with several KSSU runners in it. You can find an invite link in the Kirby series page.
And, two months later, I am back. After using that advice, I ended up in 18th place with a time of 4 minutes and 20 seconds. In the span of two months, I was knocked down to 22nd place. Two days ago, I made an 8 second improvement and am now in 21st place. I feel like I'm missing some key strategy that'll help my time. Any ideas?
