Any% Guide

I'm going to make this guide pretty barebones. Most of what I do involves visual cues which are really hard to explain and honestly aren't necessary. I am mostly going to cover the basics, all the tricks, and I will explain some of the nuances and decision making that you need to do in a typical run.

The Basics:
1. Drop outs - pause with a controller to be able to select drop out from the menu. You can run into issues if you drop out too soon at the start of a level. I usually wait until the first character appears before I start dropping out. If you do drop out too soon, your bro will not spawn. You can drop out again to fix this, but if the bro that didn't spawn was Bro Caesar, you're going to be kicking yourself.

2. Minigun flight - Run, jump, and press melee then special. I use an xbox-style controller, so I bind melee to B and special to Y. (Good luck binding your controller by the way, yes the screen looks that way for everyone, and no there's nothing you can do about it) This allows me to easily roll my thumb to perform this glitch quite consistently. Pressing melee is required to activate the glitch, while special must be held throughout the glitch. Letting go of special will allow you to fall. It is best to activate the glitch in mid air for the greatest consistency, but it is not required. Be aware, starting from the ground will not immediately give you any height. Even though you can simply dig through mountains with this glitch, it is slower. Generally you want to activate minigun flight several times during flight to keep your bearings. You will also notice, that I try to touch the ground as soon as possible after activating minigun flight. This very well could just be a superstition, but I feel like I saves a small fraction of a second by doing this each level. I can't explain it.

The Tricks:
1. Level 2 boosts
Broney Ross - shoot the crate under the grey/red barrel. Jump over the barrel as it falls. Hope you don't die, maybe get boosted. Otherwise just shoot at the transport and hope it explodes at the right time for a tiny boost.
Lee Broxmas - His knives are too OP, and therefore his boost abilities on this level were nerfed by the devs.
Bronnar Jensen - After you jump over the barrel that Broney Ross can boost off of, fire you grenade launcher as you are falling. You want it to just barely go under the tower, bounce off the ground, and stick to the transport. Just keep running and you might get a clutch looking boost.

2. Level 2-3 skip - drop out during the level 2 boss cutscene. Then press fire to spawn back in and die.
Note: you need to grab the checkpoint for this trick to work. Not really sure why this trick works. Entering the cutscene causes your death to send you to the next level, but before you die you dropout which tells the game sets your spawn point to the checkpoint when you die. But since you're already set to go to the next level, it sets you to the checkpoint of the next level? Then when you spawn back in, you just happen to get spawned back in below the map and fall to your death which activates the trigger to spawn you in the next level's checkpoint. Which is just a total coincidence that the game accidentally kills you as fast as possible there. Most levels don't glitch out that bad. If you're curious, drop out before activating the cutscene to see where the game spawns you. Testing this on other levels usually spawns you back at the start, not 50 feet below it.

3. Boss fast kill - If you've played Broforce, I think that game has the best clue towards how the fast kill works. There is a very similar boss but you can actually see the health bar. And if you position yourself just right, you can do a buttload of damage. It seems to be an overlapping hitbox. I have no idea. I can't even kill the boss consistently with Bro Caesar.

4. Stonebanks fast kill - Fly above the rail car, hit the wall (don't tear through it). Fire up the minigun to break the wall and get inside just above the buzz saw. Stand on top of the buzzsaw. That's it.

Decision making:
Unlike in low%, any% has more than one character. The fastest character for all levels except one is Bro Caesar. Unfortunately, you don't get to play as Bro Caesar for every level. Most levels, Bro Caesar saves so much time that it always makes sense to drop out until you get Bro Caesar. In other levels, it just isn't worth it. Keep in mind that you cycle through the bros quite regularly. Although it isn't a set sequence. The only known thing about the order of the bros is you CANNOT get the same bro twice in a row. I have about 200 hours in this game, and it has never happened to me. So... if you finish a level with Bro Caesar, you will not start the next level with him. Which loses a little time if you have to drop out to select him again. So here is a breakdown of the different levels and which bros you want to play as.
**Please note that this is not definitive, dropping out as Bro Caesar for each level (except one), may actually be the fastest method. I don't believe it is.

Level 1 - Bro Caesar, never settle for any other Bro.
Level 2 - Bronnar Jensen, Broney Ross, Lee Broxmas. Listed in order of speed. I usually take whichever Bro I happen to get. (Bero Caesar is the fastest, but I don't believe he is worth dropping out for)
Level 3 - Bro Caesar saves 2 seconds over the other characters. Bronnar Jensen loses at least 2 seconds. Anyone else is acceptable.
Level 4 - Bro Caesar, no exceptions.
Level 5 - Bro Caesar, don't even think.
Level 6 - Lee Broxmas or Broney Ross. Anyone else, drop out and try again.
Level 7 - You can drop out for Bro Caesar, but anyone is fine. If you think you will start as Bro Caesar on the next level use someone else. Bro Caesar barely saves any time at all. You will save time by starting as him in the next level.
Level 8 - Bro Caesar only.
Level 9 - Bro Caesar, drop until you got.
Level 10 - Bro Caesar, do it.
Level 11 - Bro Caesar fan club, population you.
Level 12 - Bro Caesar PERIOD

cool.

Game Mechanics

Thought I would put together a list of things that beginners won't know and are not very obvious. Not all mechanics will be relevant to moving faster. I do not know everything, please correct me if I am wrong. I am planning on making a separate guide to cover all the glitches.

Updates: Recently updated section on Lag and added a section on Slow time. (Aug 15th 2020)

Running
Double-tapping either left or right will allow you to run. You will want to do this at the start of every level. Letting go will cause you to stop running. There is pretty much no reason to not run all the time. I personally never realized this until after I beat the game for the first time.

Jumping
The height of your jump is determined by how long you hold the jump button. If you reach the maximum height of your jump while running you will perform a roll (Somewhat inconsistent).

Rolling
Seems to be entirely cosmetic. Needs more testing, but I have not noticed a difference in speed.

Ladders
Good for climbing, not much noteworthy about them.

Climbing
You can climb stuff using the up button. Mash the button to climb faster. You can also climb up and around ledges, it is a little finnicky, but you'll get the hang of it.

Wire Sliding
Initiated automatically when you land on a wire. You can either jump off or drop down. Dropping down can cause a glitch that conserves your momentum and makes you run real fast.

Radiators (Telephone pole things)
Jumping on or shooting radiators causes them to fall and explode. Jumping off at the right time will cause a glitch that shoots you forward. Alternatively, jumping at a different will cause you to lose speed and crush your soul.

Helicopters
There are two conditions that need to be met to summon the helicopter: Killing the evil general and activating the flag. Once the general is dead, haul ass to that flag. Touching the ladder will end the level. This process cannot be interrupted. The helicopter can also be blown up; if this happens simply wait for a new one to show up.

Checkpoints
You have to touch checkpoints to unlock them, but who cares because dying is usually slow.

Bosses
The robot bosses have a lot of health. You kill them faster if you blow up their missiles in their face. Hitboxes are unclear. I do not recommend actively trying to kill their missiles, just hope that they blow up in their face while you are killing them. Their minigun arms can be killed, but it does not appear to do extra damage. Shooting them between their arms and their torso makes me feel like I'm doing more damage, so you can try that. I do not think it actually helps. Special attacks are almost never worth it.
The quick kills on Stonebanks suck to perform.

Cutscenes
Cutscenes are boring, holding the fire button will speed them up (usually). Several cutcenes can also be skipped by jumping over the trigger. Most can be skipped; however, under not all skips are viable for a speedrun, and some are character dependant. Additionally, certain cutscenes are not worth the time it takes to skip them. Here a quick list and explanation of all cutscenes.
	First - Stonebanks orders some enemies to kill some people. This can be skipped by jumping at the last possible 	second off of the second highest platform of the first tower of the first level. (All characters, speedrun viable)
	Second - Stonebanks runs away. This can be skipped by minigun flying with Bro Caesar only. (Speedrun viable)
	Third - Robot falls from the sky. This can also by skipped by minigun flying. Softlocks game/requires you to restart the 	level.
	Fourth - Stonebanks laughs at you and runs away. First bit is skippable, the second can be sped up.
	Fifth - Small sequence as you escape. Can be skipped if you dig upwards and jump over the trigger near the entrance. 	(All characters, Not viable)
	Sixth - Stonebanks orders a mortar strike. Can be skipped, but trigger is very large. (Bro Caesar and Broctor Death 	only, Bro Caesar is speedrun viable)
	Seventh - Robot falls from the sky. Same as before except this is also skippable by Broctor Death.
	Eight - Interrogation. Can be skipped once you are told the beers are getting warm.
	Ninth - Explosion. Can be skipped/sped up.
	Tenth - Final Cutscene. Unskippable.

Randomness
- As far as I know what character you get is entirely random. The only stipulation I am sure of is that you cannot get the same character twice in a row. I have noticed patterns which tend to repeat themselves, but I have only observed these when I get certain characters on certain levels and don't die in between. For example, I would often reset until I got Bro Caesar on the first level which would often lead to getting Broctor Death on another level.
 - Mortar strikes are a little random. They will pretty much always do the same thing (which is kill you), but on occasion they have killed the general at the end of the level for me. This is probably manipulated by your position.
 - The cage which you spawn in is also random, and you can lose a few seconds to bad cage RNG.
 - Explosive barrel and radiator placements are somewhat randomized. All necessary propane tanks will always be there on the first attempt of a level.
 - Enemy behaviour is random. This includes the direction the machine gunner is looking.
 - Boss behaviour is random.

Resolution
Depending on the aspect ratio of your game (adjusted in settings), some of your screen may be cut off. You can still access areas offscreen normally, but you wont be able to see. I recommend seeing more, because it will be helpful in seeing what is ahead of you. Although I personally use 800x600 which cuts off a lot of the game. I do this mostly for superstitious reasons. I might reduce lag which is the worst run killer. Not being able to see ahead is not a problem if you know the game, but it does make a few tricks easier.

Dropping Out and Kicking Players
Drop outs are exclusive to using controllers. Kicking players seems to be impossible.

Lag
Sometimes the last level lags. If you get this, your going to lose a few seconds. I haven't had this happen in a long time because I close and restart the game after every attempt. So far this seems to have fixed the problem.
Lag builds up over time. My best guess is it is caused by loading. Screen distortion also appears to have an effect. Turn on screen distortion, beat the game 3 times without closing the game, and see what happens.

This game is not very optimized, and as a result, lag happens. Running this game with a good computer definitely reduces this lag. I saved around 10 - 20 seconds by upgrading my computer. Granted, part of this time save is due to the load remover which calculates loads more accurately.

Freedom Fighters
Using the melee button on friendlies recruits them to your cause. Mostly just awesome.

Characters
All Bros shoot differently. Their damage and rate of fire vary wildly, and they each have their own special abilities.
	Broney Ross (Dual Pistols) - Hold down fire button for best fire rate. Wiki claims being closer deals more damage.
		3 damage per shot at close range, 2 damage at long range
		7-8 block range
	Special (Triple Grenade) - Grenade sticks to enemies, walls, etc. and kills enemies, allies, and self.
		35 damage per explosion
	Lee Broxmas (Knives) - Mashing the fire button seems to maximize rate of fire and therefor damage.
		4 damage per knife
		9 block range
	Special (Knife Flurry) - Long range and good at destroying terrain.
		5 damage per knife
	Bronnar Jensen (Grenade Launcher) - Grenades cause enemies to panic and not shoot when stuck.
		~27 damage per grenade
		~8 block range
	Special (Bomb Car) - Take control of an RC car that explodes on command. Mostly useless
		>35 damage per explosion
	Bro Caeser (Minigun) - Fire backwards to go fast. Deals more damage at close range.
		8 damage per shot at close range, 4 damage per shot at long range
		8 block range
	Special (Bullet Slam) - Jump in a direction and slam with a shockwave that levels terrain. Good for changing direction 		in mid-air. Also can be used to keep you from dying. Most importantly causes the glitch that makes runs so fast.
	Broctor Death (Sword) - Attacking in mid-air will cause you to dash in the direction (Up, Down, Left, or Right).
		5 damage per attack
		1 block range
	Special (Sword Charge) - Charge in a direction and explode. Can be used to conserve momentum, bridge gaps, or 			stay alive.
	Toll Broad (Flamethrower) - Enemies that are on fire will panic and not shoot. Closer probably equals more damage.
		14 damage per shot
		5 block range
	Special (Incendiary Grenade) - Sets enemies on fire as well. Can kill you if you stand directly on top of it.
		~50 damage for explosion
	Trent Broser (Rifle) - Mashing fire button seems to maximize damage (Again, speculation).
		11 damager per shot at close range, 4 per shot at long range
		11-12 block range
	Special (Airstrike) - Throws a grenade that calls down an airstrike. Airstrike falls in the direction you are facing. 			Damages enemies, allies, and self.
		5 missiles dealing 25 damage each

Slow time
So you can just press F2 at any time to slow down time. Umm, ya. Game never tells you. Don't do it though, its not very fast. If you want to look for glitches maybe there's something there. The game doesn't seem to run any differently though. So if anything it just makes it easier to perform frame perfect inputs. No idea really.

Co-op Mechanics (I have limited experience with Co-op)

High-fives
Pressing the melee button at the same time as an ally while next to them will perform a high-five. High-fives slow down time and are the single coolest mechanic in the entire game.

This might be the only one... Let me know.

Glitches

Just a handy list of all the glitches/unintended mechanics. Let me know if I missed any. Also, if you hate the names I use to refer to glitches feel free to suggest better ones. If you have found any glitches, or I missed one, I'll add it to the list.

Movement Related

The majority of all movement related "glitches" is based on the preservation of momentum. The mechanic is simple and works as follows:
	1. You gain speed in a direction.
	2. You keep speed in that direction by continuing to move in that direction.
	3. You lose speed in that direction by discontinuing to move in that direction.

Ways to Gain Speed in a Direction:
	Walking, Running, Jumping, Climbing, Falling
	Special abilities (Broney Ross, Bronnar Jensen, Bro Caeser, Broctor Death, Trent Broser?)
	Shooting (Bronnar Jensen, Bro Caeser, Broctor Death)
	Explosions (The only known exception is Toll Broad's fire grenade which just kills you)*
	Moving platforms (Propane tanks, Pigs, Telephones/Radiators/Transformers, Bosses?)
	Destructibles (Crates, Boxes, Cages, Telephones/Radiators/Transformers, Non-explosive barrels?, Terrain?)
	Ziplines

Ways to Lose Speed in a Direction:
	Walking
	Special abilities (Bro Caeser)
	Shooting (Bro Caeser, Broctor Death?)
	Explosions (back-boosting)
	Moving platforms (back-boosting)
	Death
	Obstacles
	Ziplines? (Presumably if you are going faster than a zipline boosts you, you will slow down)
	
	Zipline Running
Preserves your speed from ziplining and transfers it into running speed. Lost upon slowing down.
While running, attach to a zipline and press down.
Very consistent and easy to execute.

	Telephone/Radiator/Transformer Jumping
Boosts you forwards at an alarming speed and is transferred into running speed. Lost upon slowing down.
While running, jump onto a telephone pole with an attached radiator thing. Land slightly right of center and jump shortly after landing.
If you jumped at the correct time, you will get a boost. If you are even slightly off you will likely get slowed down.
Inconsistent and annoying to execute.

	Propane Jumping
Break the sound barrier and have this speed transferred into running speed. Lost upon slowing down.
Knock over a propane tank (or shoot one that is already knocked over). Stand on it, preferably close to the back/bottom of it. Run and jump in the direction it is travelling before it explodes. Your timing will affect your speed.
Consistent, but difficult to execute.

	Pig Flight
Fly on the back of a dead pig, what's not to love?
Kill a pig with the melee button. Stand on it, away from the direction you want to travel. Face that direction, and start stabbing. A light button mash is enough to achieve the pig's maximum speed. Just don't miss a button otherwise your aircraft is going down.
Consistent and easy to execute.

	Pig Jumping
Jump off of a pig at break-neck speeds. Speed lost upon slowing down.
While standing on a dead, falling pig, run and jump (Exactly the same as Propane Jumping).
Annoyingly inconsistent.

	Pig Running
Run really fast after making your bros some bacon. Speed lost upon slowing down.
While running, jump on a pig. Slaughter the pig with your gun just as you land. Keep running.
Inconsistent and difficult to execute.

	Pig Catapult
Send yourself flying into the air at exactly 1 million kilometers per hour. Unsure if you can maintain speed.
Perform Pig Running with Toll Broad (Flamethrower) and get lucky.
Horribly inconsistent, difficult to execute, and has never gotten me where I want to go.

	Minigun Flight
The most broken thing in the game. Fly around laying waste to your enemies and doing pretty much whatever you want. Lost upon landing on the ground.
As Bro Caesar (Minigun), press the Melee button followed by the Special Button. Hold the special button. Timing is pretty easy to get. Requires special ammunition each time it is activated. Will not consume special ammunition if reactivated before landing on the ground.
Consistent and easy to execute, but difficult to master.

	Minigun Jumping
Get extra height on Bro Caesar's special ability.
As Bro Caesar (Minigun), hold down the fire button. As you are shooting, press the special button. You will jump in the direction you are shooting. Height is proportional to how fast you are shooting/being pushed by recoil.

	Sword Boosting
Not actually a glitch. This is just a good way to maintain the very high speeds that can be achieved during a run.
As Broctor Death (Sword), use your special ability while going fast.

Boss Related

	Robot Skip
Killing yourself during the cutscene that introduces you to the first robot boss will cause the screen to fade to black faster.
Possible with Broney Ross (Dual Pistols), Toll Broad (Flamethrower), and Trent Broser (Rifle).
Throw grenades before triggering cutscene.

	Robot Skip Skip
Sometimes killing yourself during the cutscene doesn't work. This will cause you to lose time. Usually only happens with Toll Broad (Flamethrower) or Trent Broser (Rifle). Prevented by getting the timing of you grenade throw correct.

	Level 2-3 ~Skip
On level 2, grab the checkpoint, enter the cutscene, pause (with controller), drop out (with keyboard), and press the fire button. At this point it shouldn't matter what you do. The glitch appears to be caused by dropping out during the cutscene and then advancing to the next level.
Fun fact: The checkpoint is not required, it just the fastest way to kill you. For whatever reason, dropping out after getting the checkpoint spawns you in under the helicopter underneath the ground and drops you to your death.

	Robot Fast Kill
Probably not a glitch, but sometimes the robot dies faster. This seems to be due to blowing up their missiles in their face.

	Robot Skip 2
Avoiding the trigger for the robot cutscenes can cause them not to spawn. There is also a way to break the trigger so you can never trigger it.
		Robot 1: Kill Stonebanks before he disappears. There is pretty much only one good way to do this.
		Stand on top of the tall building at the start of the level, jump, and use your special.
		Robot 2: Still not sure what breaks this trigger, but I remember doing it one time.

	Stonebanks Fast Kill
This is only really a glitch in Low%. However, there are several glitchy ways to kill Stonebanks. The easiest is with Broney Ross (Dual Pistols). Throwing sticky grenades onto the back of the moving death machine causes the grenades to stick to the air. As the machine passes, the grenades blow up in Stonebanks' face. A similar effect can occur with Bro Caesar's special ability's shockwave. This is much less consistent and more difficult to pull off. It involves activating the ability underneath the machine and having it travel up terrain and into the machine. And sometimes random things just kill him.

Drop out Related Stuff
	They break cutscenes.
	Not all cutscenes are affected the same way. There are 2 types of cutscenes: video and gameplay.
	Dropping out during video cutscenes freezes the cutscene.
	Dropping out during gameplay cutscenes can give you control of you character.

	They don't like checkpoints.
	Unless you game over and respawn at a checkpoint, your drop out will land you back at the start of the
	level, but not always where you would expect.

That's everything I can remember anyways. I plan to make video tutorials for these eventually.

*I do not remember what effect the fire grenade has on allies. It probably does nothing.

Nome	Autor
Any% Guide	Vhoul 4 years ago
Game Mechanics	Vhoul 4 years ago
Glitches	Vhoul 5 years ago
Low% Tutorial	Vhoul 4 years ago