Any% notes/route

Each horizontal line (as shown below) denotes a loading screen or cutscene.

---

"->" represents a dialogue choice, along with number of times you press dpad down to reach it.

Lines in parentheses are backup strats or safe strats.

This was originally written for my own benefit to keep track of events during my runs.
I've since cleaned it up to hopefully help other runners.
However, this means these are only strats that I personally use. This is not an exhaustive list of potential strategies.

# Chapter One

press A to skip first cutscene, watch intro

press A to skip title sequence

talk to mikey, run away, go back x2

shoot lock

up elevator

grab guns on table to right

kill execution tutorial enemy for 2 pistols

stand on elevator switch

wait for elevator to 100% stop, diagonal jump across gap

activate bomb and jump out window

---

run by cemetery enemies

shoot frank and go back outside

---

harvest hearts while darkling opens gate (5)

run outside to the side of the stairs

creeping dark to get key

jump over railing into stairs and enter canal

---

go to chinatown

---

pull out darkness, run down alley straight ahead to jenny's apartment

go up to floor 3 (with the boxes) and go to apartment 11

go through cutscene

*-> pretend like it's nothing* (down x1)

call butcher

leave apartment, jump off railing after going down first few stairs

take right exit after leaving apt building

eat two hearts of enemies by car (7)

shoot enemies near butcher alleyway entrance, eat a heart (8)

enter lower east side

**DO NOT EAT HEART BEFORE LOADING SCREEN OR YOU WILL GET A SLOW TRANSITION!**

---

pick up body bag

walk away when butcher starts talking

*-> cut to the chase*

walk away when butcher says "ah fuck"

shoot out lights in main restaurant area

summon darkling

shoot cops through window while eddie talks

kill swat while they're distracted by darkling

eat two hearts while waiting for door to open (10)

run through alley across street

summon darkling to open the gate

take ladder on left

walk along seam (mash jump) and jump over hunterspoint gate by turning camera

*(if you fall, enter alley to activate car and jump over the dumpster)*

jump over fence to hunterspoint

---

shoot dimitri, shoot electrical box behind him

summon darkling to open door **(MAKE SURE DIMITRI IS DEAD!)**

kill roach and run back outside

go up ladder and into apartment

run through the apartment

**KILL SMG GUY BY LAST STAIRCASE**

eat harry's heart (11)

summon gunner darkling while running to exit

---

run under stairs to train

---

go through jenny news cutscene

when jimmy starts talking, run to spot he moves to

when jimmy starts next like, run away to cancel dialogue

run back and start dialogue, run away when jimmy starts talking

take **LEFT EXIT** and go to grinder's lane

---

attempt a wall climb or shoot electrical box

grab gasoline

put away darkness until room with enemies

eat a heart from the first room (12)

kill closest enemy in second room, try to get to door ASAP

summon darkling to open door and deal with all surviving enemies

burn money, press B to skip cutscene

eat heart on your way out (13)

use barrels to escape grinder's

---

run to orphanage

---

pull out darkness, kill enemies

enter orphanage

turn right, up stairs

turn right again, up stairs again

door on left, cutscene

right door

left door

---

# Chapter Two

*(if you have no pistol ammo, move left to grab extra pistols)*

get demon arm & darkness level 2

*(if you hit 13 hearts here, you'll need the heart of the enemy by telescope on the right)*

shoot out light on the right near kamikaze heart

get kamikaze darkling

jump on post to escape trench

grab barrel, turn it on its side

prop jump across gap. try to make it across both gaps in one go

*(if you can't, either start another prop fly with same barrel, use barrel near pistols, or do tree jump)*

enter village

---

climb ladder to village

turn right at top of ladder, jump fence, follow wall to church entrance

talk to tony

after "holy shit" line, walk away and walk back

enter conversation

*-> find out what you have to do* (down x4)

when tony starts talking again, run to the hills

---

demon arm bell, move to spot for shortcut on return trip

go through tunnel bell was blocking

move along wall to the left to get warped to the crucified

after screen flashes, pull out darkness

answer word of hope (pressing B to skip does nothing)

run back

jump up on bell to escape faster

---

back to church

*-> ask about cannon*

leave

---

grab barrel on right, use it to jump over fence

run up stairs

**IF DOING LIGHTKILLER SKIP:**

absorb darkness energy

summon gunner darkling, grab barrel by pillar

activate left pump

use barrel to get on fence

drop barrel over water as you stand on it

stand on door ledge

move into corner

SLOWLY move out from the wall

go through tunnel, take a left and climb the ladder

**IF GETTING LIGHTKILLER DARKLING:**

activate left pump

go to other pump

eat lightkiller heart, summon it, pray it actually does what it's supposed to do

run back to main room

jump down, open giant door

go straight and climb the ladder

go to the right

kill enemies, eat a heart if necessary and put away darkness

run to ladder

enter bunker

---

run up stairs, pull out darkness

shoot guy on stairs, eat heart for health if needed

shoot enemy at top of stairs, run past others

use ladder at back of cannon

do shell jump (jump on metal strut, jump into cannon shell and onto second floor)

OR

jump on pipe to the left, run up stairs

run to the cannon cockpit and activate it

---

# Chapter Three

walk under church stairs and take train to fulton

---

stand on benches to make train leave

stand in spot for early city hall

when train headlights touch specific pole, run to city hall

(please refer to my video tutorial for chapter 3 for more details on performing this trick)

---

prop jump on barrel at beginning for extra speed *(switch to mattress on right if you fall off barrel)*

kill first guy (left) to prevent him popping up later

kill knife enemies or they'll chase you to ernie

demon arm door to activate trap early

switch to creeeping dark

shoot electrical box above water

run past grenade trap and shoot out light (do not activate gas trap)

absorb darkness

creeping dark vent, door lock and chains before activating gas

jump up left side of wall or jump from railing to get to ernie

shoot out lights while eating his heart

black hole gate (need full energy)

kill knife enemies, eat heart, put away darkness

ladder to turkybath

---

black hole debris, take right path

break brick wall

shoot out light by pile of guns, absorb darkness

black hole cops across room

shoot cop on second level

move to pillars, shoot other second level cop

stand on pillars and grab white box to get up to second level. **AIM AWAY FROM WALL!**

run to briefcase room, black hole briefcase guards

grab case and all guns

use auto shotgun on the way back

when back in box jump room, go left and jump down onto scaffolding. **DO NOT FALL IN POOL AREA**

black hole shield guy at door

black hole 2 swat guys by barrels

eat heart, put away darkness

drop down hole to the left of 3 swat guys

jump down to city hall

---

run to ambush

*(if needed, shoot out ceiling light and absorb dark)*

black hole straight ahead, slightly above barriers

shoot surviving guard on ground

shoot guards on scaffolding as you run by

open door

*(if cop is close to door, kill them first)*

black hole middle-left of room

run to right, eat heart of enemy in your path

shoot pairs of enemies on the way back

at the stairs to the subway tracks, shoot black hole

shoot enemy on left and eat heart

stay close to right wall

black hole above enemies at the end, shoot them as they're off balance

---

go to bathroom, bomb the case

go 2 canal

---

go right

call eddie at phone by stairs

through turnstile

---

two options for entering church:

normal way

OR

turn around after coming up stairs, jump on boxes and over fence (1 second faster but inconsistent)

---

place briefcase

summon gunner darkling when lights go out

once the left rope has been thrown, use black hole on first 4 guys

shoot closest enemy on right

immediately look up to the right and shoot two enemies

make sure all lower level enemies are dead

look up on left side, shoot enemies there (they may have dropped down by now)

once you hear "go back" and "eddie, he's tearing us apart" then you're in phase 2

black hole one of the two floodlight locations when eddie says "he can't do that shit in the light"

shoot the enemy that brings the other light (you may still need to shoot out the light if you're not fast enough

shoot enemy at back of top level

look for enemies on top level and use black hole on them

once fight ends, grab as many guns as possible

---

choose (in order):

*-> tell them what's gonna happen* (down x2)

*-> ask them to come closer* (down x2)

*-> tell them there ain't no way out* (down x2)

*->* top option (i don't actually know which option is faster here oops. i think it's this one)

tap demon arm button during this line

---

# Chapter Four

jump off cannon to the left

run to the village. you should know the way. if you don't that's not my problem

---

darkness arm the gate, ride it to the left

prop gate up against rocks

jump up the rocks and over the fence (you need momentum for this jump)

to the trenches

---

tank ridin' (you can't die here)

---

monster shootin' (you CAN die here somehow)

after monster dies, run between monster and tank

run through all the doors to the castle entrance

---

change to creeping dark

stand in front of shell ladder, absorb darkness if necessary

pull lever with creeping dark

ride to the cannon **(SHOOT THE PLANE!!!)**

climb ladder

activate cannon from outside the window (risky, only saves a second)

leave cockpit

get to castle

---

get rid of darkness powers (you can move while these cutscenes play!)

cancel cutscene after extracting darkness powers

**PUT AWAY WEAPONS!!**

walk up to the darkness, wait for a cutscene

cancel cutscene

walk up and accept the darkness

---

# Chapter Five

exit orphanage

---

exit left

go to canal st

---

go right, to lower east side

---

talk 2 sarah

back into canal st

---

train to fulton

---

go to grinder's lane (on your left when you arrive)

---

turn around and grab the trash can

destroy light near wall

stand on fire hydrant, jump and grab trash can to get over wall

use radio

exit grinders with barrels

**AVOID CAR, IT WILL KILL YOU**

---

gtfo 2 canal st

---

gtfo 2 lower east side

---

shoot out streetlights on your way to the pier

shoot once when mugger appears and he'll shoot at you to boost you towards pier

---

jump fence on right

black hole guys

walk under walkway, pull out darkness

black hole guy on walkway

shoot out two lights on the left on your way to the boat

black hole guy on second level of boat

get on boat

go left, kill enemy and eat heart

switch to tactical rifle

shoot black hole through captain's window

jump off boat

cancel pager asap

shoot guy by car

summon gunner darkling, run to two cars

shoot black hole in middle of two cars and shoot enemies as they're off balance

return to lower east

---

run to sarah's

enter house

go to TV room (with nicky barruci)

shoot two guys by car

a third enemy appears, kill him

go to kitchen (with aunt sarah)

shoot enemies at subway entrance

after killing two subway enemies, an enemy should appear from the alley. if he moves to the left, kill him. if he moves to right, leave him alone for now

after killing four subway enemies, shoot four enemies at the car to the left

attempt to shoot them as they run to car, but be aware that hitting them breaks their AI and allows them to run anywhere. kill them quickly!

go back to TV room

stand near right window to make enemy appear

if you couldn't kill the alley guy before, kill him now

darkness should say "kill them. kill them all"

shoot last enemy running down the alley on the left

it is over once the darkness says "darkness will fall"

crouch on right side of bookcase

push past butcher so you're standing right next to him

press interact button to start his dialogue once he stops moving

wait for jimmy's dialogue to end

run in, activate it, run back past butcher

run to pier 19

---

strafe jump to boat

jump in boat before it finishes pulling up to fall in water

*(if you don't fall in the water or made a mistake in the approach, jump off the side of the boat into the water)*

---

hold jump button to fly

fly up to the second last floor of lighthouse and enter the door

fly up to paulie and kill him

time ends on shooting paulie the second time

Any% Tutorial Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SH3oL088F4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uNyU0f2nEo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlNzYq5honA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKpn3O-33lM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqhicCXCG4k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWl6uZbq8Cc

Lighthouse Skip (backup strat)

https://youtu.be/1yTArEsZf9A

Not completely consistent but works most of the time trick I see here is try and sideways walk into the boat bump into mario on boat then spam jump. Then back out of the boat as fast as you can

Lighthouse Skip (with backup strat)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OncLP_R3I6o

The original discovery video seems to have disappeared, so I've uploaded another video.

List of Potential Sequence Breaks

This is a list of potential skips that I tested with hacks to see whether or not it was worthwhile to try to find a way to achieve them. This is meant to be used as a guide to determine which skips should be looked for, or if a powerful glitch is found, which skips will be available.

This was all tested on emulator, and there always exists the possibility that things which crash or otherwise do not work on emulator may behave differently on console. However, from my testing, I've concluded that The Darkness emulation is pretty solid aside from lag and graphics, so I don't have any reason to believe there would be a difference on console.

An important thing to note about skips involving Darkness powers or Darklings is whether or not they get acquired at the next loading trigger. When you skip a Darkness power, such as Creeping Dark or Demon Arm, you will receive them once you hit the loading trigger for the next area. This means that if you were able to skip Demon Arm, you wouldn't be able to use it to prop fly across the trenches, but you would be able to use it everywhere else in the run. Darklings, however, do not work like this. If you skip a darkling, you cannot use it at any point in the run.

It is also very important to note that these skips are **NOT** currently achievable. They are only theoretically possible.

If you are a dedicated glitch hunter, I suggest double checking the veracity of the claims I make here. I believe I have been thorough in my testing, but there always remains a possibility that I missed something, and I would hate for a potential trick to not be found because I mistakenly assumed it wasn't possible.

If you think of anything missing from this list, please let me know over discord or twitter. I am willing to test any ideas sent my way, and I will update this document as new discoveries are made and new theories are tested.

# Chapter 1

## **You could skip the Darkness awakening, Creeping Dark, and Berserker darkling if you can escape the cemetery.**

There is an invisible wall surrounding the cemetery up until the moment the Berserker darkling opens the cemetery gate. To do this skip, you would need a way past the invisible wall around the cemetery wall. Simply jumping up to the wall is not enough.

If you were to skip the awakening and/or Creeping Dark, you would need a way past the gate to Canal.

You will acquire the Darkness and Creeping Dark once you reach Chinatown. The Berserker will be skipped entirely, meaning you can't use darklings until Gunner or later.

## **If there were a way to escape Butcher's restaurant before finishing his dialogue at the van, you can continue to Hunterspoint.**

However, since you skip the trigger that allows you to pull out guns and the Darkness, you would not be able to fight any enemies until you reach Hunterspoint. It would be pretty difficult to survive.

I do not currently have any leads on how one could escape the restaurant. It seems like it would involve some kind of clipping method which does not yet exist.

## ~~**You could skip Roach if there were a way to get onto the fire escape.**~~

SOLVED: (found by wrathbody)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-MufcpT8PY

## ~~**You could skip the Gunner darkling if you manage to hit the Canal loading trigger before the train kills you.**~~

SOLVED??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5He5zF0oyoc

## **You could enter the orphanage from Grinder's Lane after burning the money if you can get past the fence.**

There is an invisible wall above the fence, so you need some other way around it. The invisible wall extends all the way to the top of the map.

## **Impossible Sequence Breaks**

- Trinity Church loading trigger does not exist at any point in the chapter.
- Grinder's Lane is not set up until after the cutscene with Jenny and Jimmy. The money pile does not exist yet.
- No Gun Hill triggers exist. Eddie is not in the apartment.
- Orphanage crashes on load from both entrances until the Grinder's Lane money is burned.
- City Hall crashes on load at all points in the chapter.
- Lower East Side crashes on load from Canal.
- Lower East Side loading trigger from Chinatown does not exist until Butcher's number is dialed.
- Butcher's number in Jenny's apartment is uninteractable until she walks to the couch.
- Cannot skip the Harry cutscene as it triggers the Jenny/Jimmy news cutscene.

# Chapter 2

## ~~**You could skip Demon Arm and/or Kamikaze darkling if you can get past the invisible barrier surrounding the trenches.**~~

SOLVED: (found by brandonltxxp)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yQrt9zup0shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yQrt9zup0s

You (seem to?) need to crouch while jumping to make this work.

This video shows the Demon Arm being used to position a chair used to jump out of the corner of the trenches, but you can use the Creeping Dark to position the chair as well, allowing for Demon Arm skip. By pressing R1/RB right in front of a prop, the Creeping Dark won't be summoned and the prop gains a bit of momentum in the direction you're facing.

The chair does not have to be perfectly upright, but it does have to allow for more height than you can get by just standing on it when it's on its side. It's okay if the chair breaks into pieces, as long as you can get those pieces in the corner.

In an any% speedrun, there is no reason to skip the Demon Arm. I have yet to test if Kamikaze skip is worth attempting. It may require Darkness Level 2 for a quick and consistent setup. This is a weird place to write this but I guess I don't have anywhere else to document this thought right now lmao

## **You could enter the Hills before talking to Anthony if you can get past the gate. Returning with the Darkness Guns opens the entrance to the sewers.**

There is a very easy way to get out of bounds in the village. By jumping on the head of the horse and then jumping on the light near it, you can jump over the wall. However, everything out there is completely solid. There does not seem to be any way to drop down into the Hills, but I don't know that for certain.

## **You can skip the Hills entirely if you can get into the hatch leading to the sewers.**

To do this skip, you would have to get directly into the sewers entrance. Just getting into the room behind Anthony is not enough for this skip. The hatch is closed, and cannot be opened by the player.

As stated above, there is an easy way to get out of bounds. However, using that for this skip seems even less plausible than using it for entering the Hills.

The entrance to the sewers is directly below the path leading into the village from the trenches. If there ever were a way to clip directly downward, this would be a great place to utilize it.

As with other Darkness power skips, you will acquire the Darkness Guns once you proceed into the sewers.

## ~~**You can skip the Lightkiller darkling if you can get past the giant metal door OR if you can get under the water's kill plane.**~~

SOLVED

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHU2ZlYQbQk

## **Impossible Sequence Breaks**

- You cannot use the pipe in the village to reach the Castle entrance. There is no loading trigger present.

# Chapter 3

## ~~**City Hall can be accessed early if you can get there before the train kills you.**~~ 

SOLVED

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LVAHeoiWYs

## **Black Hole can be skipped if you reach the Turkish Baths ladder.**

As with other Darkness power skips, the Black Hole will be acquired once you proceed to the next area.

I have no leads on how to do this. Going backwards through the ambush area would require clipping through two closed doors, and the only other path to Turkish Baths takes you right past Ernie anyway. On top of that, I don't know any way past the gate right behind Ernie.

This seems very unlikely and useless.

## **Impossible Sequence Breaks**

- Trinity Church trigger does not exist until the phone call to Eddie is made.
- Gun Hill triggers do not exist until after you talk to Sarah. This is irrelevant for any% as Early City Hall skips Sarah and Gun Hill entirely.
- Ambush area of City Hall is not set up until you have the briefcase.

- The video of this is lost, but: You can't use the noclip glitch and escape the pier. I used memory hacking to place my position inside the Lower East Side loading trigger while the glitch was active, but it did nothing. To activate the glitch, you use the guy sitting on the edge of the pier. Jump off while looking up at him, and activate the kick cutscene before you hit the water. Doing this activates the noclip glitch for about three seconds, before the ladder climbing cutscene plays and cancels the glitch.

# Chapter 4

## **You could finish the chapter immediately if you can get past the castle door at the start.**

This would probably be the biggest skip in the game, barring any full chapter skips.

There is a barrel along the tracks the cannon is on that you could use for prop flying. However, the entirety of the castle seems to be solid. Even on its right side, where it is missing textures, there does not seem to be any way to enter. It is extremely hard to prop fly over there in the first place.

If there is a way to break into the door from the front, you may need to shoot the plane out of the sky first, as it can potentially do massive damage and move you out of position. This can be done with any weapon. I suggest the Darkness Guns, as the rifle is too slow and the pistols are a bit weak.

## **Impossible Sequence Breaks**

- You cannot get the cannon shell early by following the rails at the start. Even if you could get past the closed door, the shell does not exist until after the tank section.

# Chapter 5

There really aren't any potential sequence breaks here. Everything in this chapter is dependent on completing the part before it. If the boat to the lighthouse exists anywhere on the Pier 19 map, I have yet to find it. I don't imagine it could ever spawn in early.

## **Impossible Sequence Breaks**

- You cannot use the Grinder's Lane radio before talking with Sarah and Butcher, even if you were able to enter the room somehow.

Name	Author
Any% notes/route	Indextic 2 years ago
Any% Tutorial Videos	Indextic 2 years ago
Lighthouse Skip (backup strat)	brandonltxxp 4 years ago
Lighthouse Skip (with backup strat)	Indextic 2 years ago
List of Potential Sequence Breaks	Indextic 2 years ago