Tron 2.0 Speedrun guide (any%) by Dutchess Nicole

Based off of the run by @TheWarlordShogun of 1h 46m 50s on 03-09-2018

Preamble

I decided to make this guide after seeing TheWarlordShogun's run on speedrun.com. As I've played this game many times casually, I wanted to see whether it was possible to speedrun the game too. Thankfully TWS has a run already up, with some skips and routing already implemented.

Many thanks to him for providing the basis of this speedrun guide! This guide has been updated to reflect the September 3rd run. As new tech is discovered this guide will be updated to reflect them.

Contents

1. Preamble
2. Index
3. Rules
4. Used weapons and abilities
5. Speed techniques
6. Level guides
   • Unauthorized User
   • Vaporware
   • Primary Digitizing
   • Alan's Desktop PC
   • Power Oculus
   • Main Power Pipeline
   • Remote Access Node
   • Thorne's Chamber Core
   • Function Control Deck
   • Cargo Bay Sector
   • Command Module
   • Incompatible
7. Errata
8. Final words

Rules

This run is based on any%. It is merely necessary to reach the end credits of the game, using any strats necessary to get there. Time starts counting from the moment the first loading screen is removed (first input) and will continue until the final boss has been defeated and has disappeared.

It is not allowed to use the ingame cheats system at any point. Usage of the ingame cheats or other such methods will result in invalidation of the run.

No specific requirements beyond the above mentioned are counted for this category.

Used weapons and abilities

In this run we make use of 5 main abilities and 3 situational ones. Main abilities are chosen for usefulness within the speedrun setting, damage output or specific properties that make it worthwile to pick up. Situational abilities are those that will make the run easier, but may only be useful for a very specific part of the game and could possibly be skipped.

Three categories of abilities are used in this run:

• Offensive abilities (Primitives, subweapons)
• Utility abilities (Jump, passive weapon upgrade, Damage modifiers)
• Defensive abilities (damage reduction, damage reflect, virus negation)

Offensive abilities

The game gives you access to 4 main abilities throughout the story. These basic weapon types are called primitives. These weapons are always available (exception: the Disc in one level) and provide base damage dealing capabilities.

Primitives

Primitives come in 4 forms:

• Disc
• Rod
• Ball or Sphere
• Mesh

Disc

The Disc is the first and most used primitive weapon. When used, the Disc flies out in a straight path to the target location at the exact time of firing. Disc damage is calculated on hit on the target, where head hits deal the most damage and limbs the least. The Disc has minor homing capabilities and will curve towards enemies (if enabled in the options menu) within a certain radius. The Disc has an extreme range and can be used to snipe if used properly, however as a projectile weapon you will need to take into account target movement when using it at longer ranges.

Rod

The Rod is the second primitive weapon you get. It consists of 2 half Rods which act as tasers. The Rod uses energy to tase enemies, decomposing them eventually into a core dump that you can pick up. The Rod has a very short (melee) range but a fairly wide angle, allowing it to be used on multiple enemies at once. This feature is used several times throughout the run.

Ball

The ball is the third weapon. It acts as a grenade which you can throw towards enemies or locations. The throw distance is determined by the time you spend winding up the throw. Maximum range is achieved after a 2sec wind-up time. Of course using proper angling you can get even further distances at the cost of travel time. If the ball does not touch an enemy it will bounce along the ground a few times and explode. If the ball directly hits an enemy it will cling to the target and explode on their body instead. The ball always deals AoE damage no matter where it is, and all targets (including yourself!) take full damage from the explosion if within the blast radius. The ball sees only minor usage within the run, and most uses are situational.

Mesh

The mesh is the fourth and final weapon the game hands the player. The mesh is never used, as it uses energy, is very inaccurate and slow firing. The mesh acts as a machine gun type weapon. The mesh has a very long range, but due to the spray mechanics of the weapon any use beyond medium range is essentially a waste of energy.

Weapon Subroutines

Beyond the Primitives there are subweapons, which are based off of one of the above primitives. Sub weapons change some of the characteristics of the primitive weapon to allow a different way to use the main primitive. There are only 2 subweapons routed in this run:

• Cluster (Disc)
• LOL (rod)

Cluster

The Cluster is a subweapon of the Disc type. It alters the Disc to include an explosion when it makes contact with an enemy, or when you recall the Disc (using the block action). When the Cluster explodes like that, it drains energy from your reserves. The explosion radius and damage increase with each increased level of the Cluster ability. Like the Disc the Cluster is a projectile weapon and takes time to fly to its target. Due to the explosion, however, the Cluster is capable of taking out multiple enemies at once if they are within the explosion radius.

LOL

The LOL is a subweapon of the Rod type. It changed the extremely short range stun mechanic of the Rod primitive into a very long range sniper rifle weapon. The LOL allows for zooming in and sniping far off enemies. This weapon is of the hit-scan type, meaning that there is no travel time for the projectile. Higher levels of the LOL ability increase damage and energy consumption and decrease the weapon sway while wielding it.

Utility abilities (WIP)

Of all the utility abilities the game makes available we only use 2 (another 1 is optional but definitely not necessary!). Utility abilities do not directly affect combat in any way but do alter the player's mechanics a bit.

The two utility abilities that we pick up in the run are:

• Y-amp
• Primitive Charge

Y-amp

This is a fancy name for an increased jump ability. Y-amp will increase your jump height depending on the level of the ability. You want to get this ability up to gold as soon as possible, as some early skips depend on the maximum jump height of gold Y-amp.

Primitive Charge

This ability increases the effectiveness of all primitive damage abilities. The Disc, Rod, ball and mesh all receive increased damage output when PC is enabled. This is an important ability within the run as the Disc (and sometimes ball) are used in the run quite heavily, especially on low energy. It is worth noting that the Cluster ability is a combination of the Disc attack and the explosion. The Disc attack part does seem to receive a benefit from this skill, but the explosion does not.

Defensive abilities (WIP)

Defensive abilities provide some sort of buff to the player depending on the function of the subroutine. Some also affect combat. The defensive subroutines we pick up in the run are:

• Power Block
• Peripheral Seal
• Base Damping
• Viral Shield

Power Block

Power block adds a reflect component to the Disc weapon and its subweapons. When deflecting a Disc with your block move, the Disc will be supercharged and will fire straight in the direction you are facing. Using this you can fire ICP's Discs back at them at high speed, which will damage them.

Peripheral Seal and Base Damping

Both these abilities offer damage reduction for all physical damage. Higher tiers of these abilities offer greater reduction, but for the run only the alpha versions are useful.

Viral Shield

Viral Shield is the only ability that does not affect combat directly. While the other abilities allow you to receive less damage from attacks, or even to damage your enemies with their own attacks, Viral Shield simply adds a bonus to your ability to resist viral infections. Using Viral Shield, you are less likely to get corrupted abilities from Z-Lot attacks, meaning your abilities stay more effective in highly corrupted areas.

Speed techniques

Several speed techniques are use throughout the run to speed up sections, or skip them all together. They are listed below for convenience.

Clip jump

A clip jump makes use of the game's physics with regards to surfaces. Due to the way the world is built, individual elements such as boxes have collision on all sides, where in a more realistic setting these individual elements are often merged into a solid object. We can make use of this to achieve additional height in our jumps.

Buffered jump

A Buffered jump makes use of the game's fall mechanic to buffer an input for the exact moment you land. It is only useful in a few places, and it relies on falling off of a surface (as opposed to jumping off of it). Fall damage cancels the Buffered jump.

Conversation skip

The conversation skip is arguably the biggest time save in the game at this moment. Conversations can be skipped by quicksaving while in a conversation, and reloading immediately after. The timing on this is not exact but it does matter when you save: a conversation line only counts as "heard" when the NPC starts saying that particular line. I.e. the NPC has to actually have started the audio clip.

OOB

This game has a few sections where you can get out of bounds. Using these skips you can skip large sections of a few levels and a few fights, saving health and nerves. While OOB, you can only navigate visible textures, and the game will attempt to push you back inbounds once the center of your model is within a valid room. Precision is required to navigate OOB.

Remote actions

When performing any action using the action key (default: E), the game checks whether you're in range at the start of the action. If you are, the action starts as normal. However, after this intial check, the game does no more range checks for the duration of the action, even if it's not instant. In the case of actions like charging bits, or draining health or energy orbs, we can abuse this lack of checks by initiating the action within range and then walking away. The action will continue to process even if you're far out of range by the time it completes.

Level guides

Unauthorized User

Program Initialization

The game immediately opens with 3 cutscenes which we skip by any keypress or mouse click. If you've ever played the game tutorial before (you should have, this is a speedrun!) you will be given the option to skip the tutorial. Hit 2 to do so. Immediately move straight ahead from your starting position towards the yellow portal ahead of you. The forcefield will disappear momentarily so head straight through and into the portal.

In the training arena, speak with Byte and pick up the Disc weapon. The game will once again allow you to skip the rest of the tutorial. Hit 2 to do so and head back into the portal once it activates.

Back in the intial room, 2 Z-lots have spawned, one on the right close to the exit to your room and one further back on the left. Kill them using the Disc weapon and head to the right. A forcefield will be blocking the way out to a semicircular walkway. Byte will lower the forcefield for you. Head through with the Disc ready and kill the Z-lot waiting further along the walkway. If you time this right you can strafe onto the platform jutting out from the walkway while killing the enemy, saving time as you can activate the elevator early. It is possible to walk or jump off of the elevator early as well, but keep in mind that fall damage is fairly extreme in this game. When off the elevator, turn right and head along the walkway to the next forcefield. (100% addendum: A build note may be present on the left side, in a room at the end of the semicircular walkway.) Once again, Byte will lower the forcefield for you. Head through and go left into the dip in the broken floor.

The exit to the level is on the floor above. Due to a glitch in the way the game detects surfaces it is possible to jump up this floor early. I will call this a clip-jump in this guide. To do so, stand in front of the section of floor jutting out from the rest. In it are two cracks. The left crack allows you to jump up it. Align yourself so that you are in between the two wedges that make up the crack, then neutral jump. Press forward once you leave the ground and the game should clip you straight onto the higher floor. With practice it's easily possible to do this in one go, and it's very fast. We will use this technique a few times throughout the run, so make sure to practice it a bit!

Byte will float up to the place where we are now standing and tell you that you cannot get up here. Obviously it is wrong, but to assist you Byte will fly away and head off to the right. If you are up on the platform, fall back down and head off to the left where a big forcefield sits. Otherwise, simply turn around and find the forcefield and head towards it.

Byte will stop just left of the end of the wide black stripe on the floor. If you position yourself facing that spot you will be able to immediatly interact with Byte as he reaches the target location. Byte will lower the forcefield once you talk with him. Head into the room that opens up and into the center walkway. Take a right down the slope and round the corner. In the storage room you will see a control panel and a light bridge that's blocked with debris. There are two ways to get across:

• the first way is simple and slow: activate the control panel. The light bridge will disappear and the debris will fall. After a few seconds the bridge will activate again and you can walk across.
• the second way is a bit more complicated but faster. You can activate the control panel, and while the debris falls, jump on the slab at the bottom of the rubble pile. From there, jump on the lower end of the slanted column section, then onto the upper end of the same column section, and then jump across. This method saves time since you don't have to wait for the bridge to reappear, but it takes some practice. Jump mechanics on moving parts are a bit iffy so it'll take some getting used to. It is also possible to do this in just two jumps instead of three.

Once on the other side, access the archive bin (AB) and retrieve the Y-amp ability. The number of the ability may be random, so check that you're getting the correct ability! Also, don't equip the ability yet! Once you have the Y-amp downloaded, head back to the broken floor room. 3 Z-lots will have spawned in the mean time: one will be right around the corner when you exit the storage room, the other two will be in the corrupted area. Take them out and clip-jump up the floor. Head straight through the tunnel section to the end. The end-of-level trigger is on the elevator at the end.

A cutscene will play. Just skip it.

Program Integration

After the loading screen fades another cutscene will play. We skip it and head off to the left. A code optimizer is roaming around. Access it and drag the Y-amp ability into the optimizer. It will go from red (alpha) to green (beta) and will offer increased jump height. Place the upgraded ability into a memory slot so that it becomes active. Once this is done, head over to the stacks of cubes directly in front of your starting position. Approach the stack from the side of the red thing on the wall (Security station) and look up.

Align yourself with the vertical divide between the cubes, look up and jump twice. If done properly you will jump up the stack of cubes and are now on top of it. This area is considered OOB. From here we can make a series of jumps to reach the exit portal, saving several minutes. If you turn around you will see a black bar running across to the other side of the passage. You can jump on this to reach the opposite side. Alternatively you can drop down and use a Buffered Jump (BJ) to jump onto the slanted edge of the opposite wall. To use a BJ, hit space while falling (not jumping!) off of a surface. The jump will trigger the exact frame you hit a surface that you can stand on.

Once on the opposite wall, turn left and walk along the wall until you reach the second bend in the wall. It may take a bit of positioning to get the rooms to show correctly, but we are now on the ceiling of the indoor section of the level. If you look 90 degrees to the right and down, you will see a set of doorways. The top part of the closes doorway is solid. Aim a little to the left of the doorway itself (since a full length jump will likely overshoot a bit) and jump on top of the doorframe.

Once on top of the door, walk forward until you're on top of the slanted edge and look left. A hallway right in front of you will be showing a wall section. Aim for just outside the edge of that wall section and jump into that wall. If you did it right, you will end up halfway inside the wall. If your aim was too far off to the right, you will clip into the room. In this case, either reload a quick save to try again, or proceed through the pathways normally (if at all possible, you may be softlocked!). If you aimed too far to the left, you will fall into the void and die. Simply try again.

Walk forward, while still half inside the wall, until you are at the same distance as the green patterning across the hall. A visual cue to look for is the black stripe running across the edge of the floor: if the black stripe heading past the window at the point where it makes the 90 degree angle is directly across from you, that's a good jump spot. Aim for the white marker on the floor below and to the left. A short strip of white light will be visible, going diagonal from the lower right to the upper left.

Aim for the far end of that strip of light and jump forward. This jump should be pretty safe and push you inbounds once you land. If it didn't, adjust your starting position a bit to make sure you have the clearance to get around the room above your target zone. Once inbounds, walk along the floor to the end of the room, jump up the slopes and head into the exit portal.

You will teleport into a circular room. Head off to the right, following the curve of the chamber and take the first left. Signs with the number 1 on each side will tell you where to go.

Inside this room you will find a bit. Start energizing it using the action key and walk away while still holding the action key. The energizing action will continue while you walk over to the second bit. Continue along the perimeter of the circular chamber counter-clockwise, activating bit 2 the same way. Ignore the next two doorways to the left as they lead into the center chamber. Proceed along the corridor, taking out any ICPs that get in your way and activating the third and fourth bits the same way.

In the chamber for bit 4, it is possible to line up with the left side of the bit console, jump up to the window and crawl through it. That way you can reach the central chamber quicker and head for the center. The exit trigger is on the central pad.

Skip the cinematic that plays and you will head into the next chapter.

Vaporware

Light cycle arena and staging pit

Skip the opening cinematic as usual and the game will force you into the abilities menu. Equip the Y-amp ability and hit F1 to close the menu.

You will start off in between a few lightcycle arenas. Head straight across from where you start and talk to the NPC. Look down, as the Rod will appear there, and pick it up. Head up the stairs behind you and take one of the two paths that circle around the pit. I take this opportunity to check each of the lockers while I'm passing by to find the locker that requires permission #4. If you located it, great. Otherwise we have 2 more opportunities to find it. head along the edge of the pit to the NPC with the talk icon and interact. They will open the gate to the tutorial race arena. It is possible to check the other lockers while the door is opening but the timing is tight. Memorize where the locker is when you find it.

Light cycle racing is very RNG-heavy, as you don't exactly know what each of your opponents is going to do. However, if you fail the race, the game graciously allows you to retry the race, or to skip it. The very fastest way to beat each race is to very quickly mash either left or right. Once you start moving, you will turn 4 times and run into your own light cycle wall. Then, simply select "no" when the game asks you to try again! You will still be credited for completing the race, so you can move on.

The next race will be set up immediately, so you can head off to the race door and wait for it to open. Alternatively you can spend this time to pick up a few build notes that are scattered throughout the stage. If you haven't found the locker, you can take this time to find it in the remaining outer areas too. Enter the next race, end it as soon as possible and select "no" again.

This time, head across to the ICP standing directly across from you near the training arena and interact with them. They will give you a permission (#4) after a few lines. While you wait for the permission to apply, head around the pit to the two ICPs in a conversation. Approach the two ICPs and talk with both of them. The second ICP will ask you which racer you think will win. Answer "The blue racer" (possibly option 2?) and head to the locker you've found. Open the locker and pick up the super light cycle! Picking up the super light cycle will activate the next race, so head off to the arena again and end it asap.

You have a little time before the door activates to let you into the final race, so hunt the final build note if you want. Also, talk with the yellow program in the lower section of the pit. Afterwards, wait at the door until it opens and repeat the race trick.

A cinematic plays that we skip and we move into the second area of the level.

Prisoner Bin

Of course we start off by immediately ending a cinematic and approaching Mercury to talk with her. A little dialog will happen and she will lower a forcefield. Head through the now opened door with the Rod equipped, round the corner and tase the ICP until it segfaults. You can take the core dump for some energy if you want. There is a white energy orb a few feet away that you can use as well. Mercury will take a while to get to you. She will approach the console on the wall and you will have to interact (x2). Once this is done, move to the door opposite where she's at and face the bit. Mercury gives you a permission (#1) that you can use to access the bit. Once you receive it, toggle the bit to lower the forcefield and head straight through the passage in front of you.

At the other end of the passage, turn right, hugging the wall, and head straight into the door on the right. Inside will be an ICP, so stun and segfault it. Inside this room is a bit. Energize it and head back out to the stacked cubes across the door. Climb up the boxes until you reach a walkway above the circular room. If you walk along the outside edge of the walkway you cannot be hit by ICPs or Finders. Go around the walkway counterclockwise until you hit a walkway going to the center.

Head onto the walkway to the center of the room and access the AB. Retrieve the permission from it (#3). Facing away from the AB towards the walkway, line yourself up with the left edge of the walkway and look down. Inside the room below you should see a code optimizer scurrying about. Jump down onto the platform right below you, and from there onto the roof of the room the optimizer is in. Jump down one last time, open the door and access the optimizer. Use it to upgrade Y-amp to gold. Once this is done, head towards the wall and to the passage off to the left. If you timed it right no ICPs will have seen you. Once you exit the passage, turn the corner to the left and access the bit controlling the prison door. Immediately turn around and head into the alcove in the wall where the exit portal is. Kill any ICPs that may have followed you and wait for the program to activate the portal.

You will find yourself in a small chamber with an IO node ahead of you. Ignore it and head out the doorway into a circular room. In the center of it is a large pillar (which is an elevator). We will need to open it. On the outside of the pillar near the floor and the ceiling are two orange bands of light. These bands each contain a lock that holds the elevator door shut. You can fry these locks with the Rod. The first lock is directly to the right as you enter the room, on the upper band. It looks like a set of grey cubes. Jump to fry it and continue in the same direction. Near the floor further along is the second lock. Fry that as well, and head straight into the door in the center which is just up ahead. If you are very low on energy, there is a white energy orb right near the second lock, on the outside of the ring. Activate it and hold the activate button while you're in the elevator for some extra energy.

On this elevator you want to line yourself up for the next part. Look up at the top of the elevator and identify a single orange marker that sticks out from the walls. We want to pass that on the left and head directly for the two ICPs that are chatting there. Stun both at once with the Rod by sweeping your cursor over each one repeatedly. You will need about 40 energy for this so make sure that you have enough by this point. Locate the doorway with an upward slope behind it, slightly ahead and to the right, and head towards it. There is a Finder flying around in here so don't get shot too much! Head into the first doorway on your right in the corridor and head along the right wall until you reach the center of the room. There is an archive bin there that you want to get a permission from. Retrieve the permission (#4) and head back out the way you came in. Make sure to hug the inner wall of the corridor as you leave, as an ICP can spot you if you don't.

Once you head back down the ramp, you will see a black structure to the right of the elevator in the center of the room. Head to that and activate the red button on the console. Immediately head in and take a left into the portal.

You will find yourself in the control tower where your Disc is being kept. Take a right from the portal and access the AB. Retrieve the permission (#8), the Peripheral Seal and the Power Block abilities. Equip the Power Block ability in the F1 screen, turn around and head off to your left, into the glass tunnel section. An ICP will be guarding your Disc so either take him out and take it back, or just swipe the Disc and dispatch him with it. ICPs will spawn as you take it so head off in the direction they didn't spawn in (it's random) and head back into the portal.

Back in the large elevator room, head out the door of the tower access room and take a right. In the wall is a window showing a large beam of white light. We want to go to the left of that, past the indentation in the wall. A white energy orb marks the spot. Just past the force field in the floor is a console. Activate the button there to lower the forcefield and head down into the corridor.

The exit of the level is the beam we saw earlier.

Transport station

In the transport station the level opens with a cutscene and a conversation with Ma3a. Skip both and head left out the door. On the right, a squad of 3 ICPs will spawn shortly. Depending on whether you want to fight them right there, or later on, you can decide to head off to the left immediately. Keep going in the overall left direction through the tunnel out into a room with a void below. Take a right once you reach the platform and look up and to your left. If you're quick, you can snipe the Finder there with your Disc and explode the ICP that's standing next to it as well. Head up the incline that's recessed in the wall. On the next floor up you will need to kill a few ICPs, as one may have spotted you while you were heading for the ramp. Head for the light bridge on the left (watch out for the Finder!) and access the AB in the corner there. Retrieve the permissions (#2 and #3) and the Viral Shield. Go into your abilities menu and disinfect the Viral Shield, as it is corrupted. Then head back across the bridge.

A few ICPs may have wandered into the area so be careful. (If you decided to kill off the initial squad, they won't reappear here.) Head across the upper floor to the bridge control box. Activate it and jump onto the appearing bridge surface to get to the opposite side. There is a health orb there if you need any, but eventually you want to head towards the IO node at the end.

Activate the IO node and skip the conversation. Head right and around the corner into a storage area. An ICP will be idling against a wall at the other side of the room, so take it out. If it drops a permission (#5), take it, otherwise head left compared to the direction you entered the room. Do not exit this room yet, there are things to do here. Head through the room lengthwise, down a ramp and up the one across from it. Equip the Rod while you're walking and head through the door at the far end. Here we are going to double-zap the two ICPs in the room. You can of course use the Disc too, the Rod is more guaranteed but the Disc is faster. If you didn't get permission #5 yet, one or both of the ICPs drop it too, so pick that up.

Directly behind them is an AB. Retrieve the permissions and the Primitive Charge subroutine from it. Disinfect the Primitive Charge subroutine, as it is corrupted as well. Re-equip the Disc and head up the ramp into the doorway that's to the right of where you initially entered. An ICP will be waiting there so dismiss it and head towards the screen on the platform. The large orange screen will have a button on the far left side that can be activated. Push the button and head back into the long storage room. A couple of ICPs will have spawned on the nearest ramp. Take them out with the Disc and head down the ramp and up the other side. There is a Finder floating around here too that you might want to dispatch. Once up the ramp, take a left and dispatch the ICP on this platform. It can be all the way to the left, or all the way to the right. There can also be none at all.

First release the leftmost mooring app, then the right one. The exit is marked by two orange pillars, between which a bridge will spawn. You can jump to the door early and then jump again to get up on the bridge, saving about a quarter of a second.

Primary Digitizing

Of course, the intro cinematic plays, the IO node, you know the drill.

At this point is a good time to process a level-up. Head into the menu and put all the points you received into health. You will need this for a rather large skip later on. Also, make sure to process the Primitive Charge subroutine, which you downloaded earlier. It was infected when you got it, so use your disinfect subroutine (top right circle) to remove the viruses. Equip the Primitive Charge later, as it requires more menuing and the next available opportunity is when entering a new system.

In this room is the first instance of an energy pool. You can use this to regain energy automatically by standing in it. You do move slower while being in it, so use it only when you don't need to get anywhere fast. Head across this pool and open the door on the other end. Two ICPs are talking on the other side of the door. They are directly on the right as you exit the room so dispatch of them and head the other way. A walkway above you will spawn a Z-lot, so take that out if it's a bother. Right ahead of you is a stack of boxes and a wall. Jump over the wall using the boxes and prepare for an OOB skip. The Z-lots in here can be a pain so try to be quick.

Directly to your right when you land are a stack of boxes with an AB. Jump up onto the AB and face the nearest wall. If you do not have the gold Y-amp at this point you cannot make this skip! The backup strat unfortunately involves the normal game route. Once you're up on the AB, run towards the wall and jump at the last moment. It is probably wise to quick-save before attempting this, but with gold Y-amp it should be relatively painless, unlike the Z-lots shooting at you. Once you're up on the wall itself, head to the left. A black bar which represents the top of the wall will be our starting point for the skip. Look down and to your right. You will see through the back of a wall with some partially visible textures. Below you is a grey console of sorts. Fall down through the wall onto that. If you did it right, you will be pushed inbounds about halfway up the wall, resetting your fall height. Then you will land on the console, which will push you off to the front and onto the AB that popped up.

Head out into the room ahead of you, across the platforms and towards the two doors on the far end. You want to open the left of the two doors. Several ICPs are in this room, as well as a few security rezzers. Take out the ICPs as quickly as possible to prevent reinforcements from spawning. Once the room is clear, look for two consoles with bits in them. They should be side by side and towards the left of the room from where you entered. Activate each bit by powering them up, then head back out the way you came. An ICP will have spawned in the previous room. Be careful to not kill the NPC in that room, as you will need a permission from them! Talk with the NPC to ask for the permission. This is the only NPC in the game whose dialog you can skip by throwing and recalling the Disc, so do so. Once you receive the permission, head into the center of that room where a button is affixed to the wall. Press it and an elevator will come down. Ride it up to the door.

Once back up you are in the initial corridor with the wall you jumped. A number of Z-lots will have spawned here, up on the walkways and down in the corridor where you are. Your goal is to get back up over that wall and to perform the same OOB skip again. Once again, jump onto the wall into OOB territory and head towards the top of the wall. However, instead of dropping down on the right into the room, walk up the ramp to the left and towards the far side of this large open area. The white blocks and black surface are all walkable and solid, so it's a quick jaunt straight on and up until you reach the final wall on the far side. Once there, cross over to the left part of the slanted wall, and drop down onto a joined section of roof. If you drop from the lower part of your current higher roof to the upper part of the lower one, you won't take any damage.

Walk up the roof to the very end.

Now you wait. Eventually the red wall will come close but the level will end long before you're in any danger.

The 100% version uses a different tactic, since there are build notes in the section below. While this guide doesn't officially covers 100%, I included this section for completion's sake, as I had written it already anyway.

Instead of walking upwards towards the end of the roof sections, take a left down the ramps and drop down onto the black section.

Z-lots will walk around down on the ground. The goal is to wait for as long as possible in this safe zone, until just before the initial red wall reaches the two L-shaped walls that guard the entrance to the last section. When the red wall reaches that section, drop down onto the highest part of the slope below you, head right into the middle of the room and dodge some shots by Z-lots until Byte opens the forcefield.

Once through the forcefield, head to the right around the wall. This part is a bit of a maze with Z-lots all over, so take a right again, along the outer wall. Take a left at the first available corridor, where a build note will be waiting, and a right again. You will be right next to the exit port. It will take a while for the trigger to activate, and behind this structure is a room that will continually spawn Z-lots. They cannot see you while if you are standing right up against the white pillar on the outside of the port, so chill for a few seconds while the wall advances. Once the opaque section of the Formatting wall has passed the actual wall where you came from, come out from behind the pillar, kill any Z-lots that may be lingering about and jump into the hole at the center of the port. Crouch and wait and the trigger should activate, ending the level.

Skip the cinematic of course.

Alan's Desktop PC

This is a new system so you get a chance to reconfigure our subroutines. Load the Y-amp and Primitive Charge into memory and exit the menu. If one of these got corrupted in the previous level, you will have to disinfect them.

Ma3a initiates a conversation so return the favour and head towards the stack of ABs in front of you. There is a single node in these bins, which is of a video. Download it and immediately skip the video. Talk to Ma3a again (x3), skip the conversations and head towards the stairs behind you. Go up the stairs, take a left and an immediate right. An IO node is waiting for you. Once Ma3a arrives there, talk to her. While you wait for Ma3a to arrive, level up by putting all points in health. This is also a good point to equip any subroutines that were disinfecting. You will need to solve a small puzzle before you can access the IO node.

Turn around, take a right down the hallway and a set of 4 NPCs is waiting to be activated. You want to activate each of the 4 NPCs in order: first the red Program (3rd down the line), the yellow one (2nd down the line), the other yellow one (4th down the line) and finally the green one. One of them can walk straight into their assigned location. The others will turn around once they reach their target locations and head back to their idle spot. The most reliable strat at the moment is to rotate the fences each time a NPC accesses their location, then send the NPC for the newly opened spot back asap. To rotate the fences, the hallway to the right of and beyond where the NPCs are has a console that will turn all of the fences by 90 degrees every activation.

If you identify which NPC heads into which corridor, you can predict which one to send back for each rotation. Once all 4 NPCs are in place, use the IO node right next to the console and talk with Ma3a.

Next you need to head away from the IO node, towards where the programs were idling, and into the corridor on the right. Ahead will be 3 ABs in a V shape. Access the AB with the nodes in it and download the LOL ability (1). Equip it, as you will need it immediately. Walk along the path towards the precipice and activate the bridge using the console on the left. The bridge will form under you, so just walk as soon as possible. It's possible to get caught on the diamond shapes that surround the bridge so make sure to stick to the centre.

Halfway across the bridge you will find a white energy orb and a health orb, as well as an NPC on the left. Interact with it to ask it to retrieve the first part of a message. At this point no finders will appear yet, so just wait for the NPC to return. Once you have the message, head along the bridge in the direction you were travelling initially. At this point a Finder may spawn from the duct to the left of the bridge. You can snipe it with the LOL or a Disc to avoid taking damage. Enter the portal at the far end for the second part.

The second email fragment is in a similar room, and is retrieved in much the same way. Important differences to note are the fact that the Finders are immediately activated once you enter the room. Also, the NPC requires you to snipe several Finders along the wall section that it searches, so make sure you have the energy for it. 3 Finders should be flying in among the stacks. Take care to hug the left triangular wall section while the NPC is retrieving the fragment, as the Finder near the exit path will be able to spot you if you're too close to the centre. Once you've spoken with the NPC and have the fragment, again walk in the direction you were going across the bridge to the exit portal.

The third and final email fragment is very similar to the second: more Finders in the stacks (5 this time) and the Finders patrolling the exit bridge are much higher up this time. Additionally, a Finder is now also patrolling the entrance bridge. Hugging the same triangular wall should keep you out of their sight. Head down the exit bridge and use the IO node at the end. Skip the conversation, and head into the corridor, onto an elevator. The way out will be to the left of this elevator, so equip the Disc and prepare to face some ICPs.

The first ICP will be coming out of the corridor where you got the LOL. Dispatch of it, and head into that corridor again. This time, you want to access the AB containing a single blue node. This will be a permission (#3) that you couldn't access before, so get it now. Possibly an ICP will come around the corner and attack you while you're downloading. Dispatch it with the Disc, and once the download completes, head back towards the elevator.

Behind the elevator is an AB that you can now access. Get the permission (#8) from it and the build point if it is here and head back towards the beginning of the level. An ICP will spawn in in the side room where Ma3a was hovering near the IO node, so take it out. Finally, two more ICPs are stationed at the exit port. Take care of these two, activate the bit and head into the exit port to exit the level.

System Reboot

Packet Transport

Since you entered a new system, you are forced into the abilities menu again. Equip the LOL, Y-amp and Primitive Charge. Once out of the menu, walk forwards while tossing the Disc at a wall or floor, until you see an AB next to a health orb. Access this AB and retrieve both the permission (#1) and the Cluster subweapon. Tossing the Disc around will attract the attention of a few ICPs down below. They will come up to investigate, so turn around and face the wall behind you. Dispatch of them as they round the corner, and head back to their location. Turn left at the position their core dumps are now floating and head down the ramp. A third ICP will be waiting either on the ramp or at the bottom of it. Remove it from existence and pick up the permission (#3). Once down the ramp, turn right and head out the orange door.

Jump across the platforms onto the next train cart. An ICP will spawn on the upper right hemicircle. You can ignore it but it might be trouble later so see if you can dispatch of it quickly, and head into the leftmost door.

Directly inside the door will be an ICP on the bottom floor, as well as a Finder to your right. You can skip these, but they are right next to a security rezzer, so if they spot you later they may become troublesome. Head straight on into the red boxes, take a right, and take a right again when under the white lights on the ceiling. At the end of the narrow corridor is another tight passage off to the left. There is an AB in there from which we want to get a permission (#2). It is possible that a Finder is patrolling it, so be on the lookout.

Once you have the permission, head back out towards the T-section under the white lights and turn right. A box with an angled surface sits here that you can walk up. This way you can get up to the second floor, where two ICPs and a Finder are patrolling. One of the ICPs will drop a permission (#4) so pick it up. Once you have the permission, head left from the place you jumped up onto the floor, and out the orange door. It is wise to quicksave here, as we will be jumping down to the lower level. On the hemispherical bridge, look down below and to your left. An angled surface leads into the centre of the cart. Walk down it a few steps, turn right to face the lower bridge, and hop down. If done correctly you will easily land on the lower bridge section with no damage taken.

Jump across the platforms onto the final train cart.

On the third cart, again take the left door and head into the interior. On the left side of the room is an upwards slope, use that to get to the second floor. An ICP will be patrolling here so take it out, as it has a permission (#5) we need. You can jump over the railing at the top of the ramp to skip having to walk around a wall, and head back towards where you entered the cart. In front of you is an AB. Access it and retrieve the permission (#7). It is possible that an ICP will walk up the ramp so keep an eye out. Once you have the permission, head forwards through the cart and out the door. The loading zone is behind the door.

A cinematic will play so we skip that and we head off to the next level.

Power Regulator

You spawn in in this level at the top of a set of ramps. ICPs are in front and behind you, so turn around and head towards the jumbled stack of boxes off in the distance to the right. The ICP that is in the way shouldn't be a problem, so head towards the AB stacked between the boxes. The AB has 2 permissions we want (#5, #6) and you'll have to jump to access it. Once you have the permissions, head back to where you spawned in and down the other side.

An ICP will be standing at a console, facing away from you. It might spot you, so take it out if it does, otherwise just ignore it and use the button at the white pillar to lower the forcefield and head through the portal.

This portal takes you to a series of luminescent walkways. Take out the LOL and head towards the right passage. You're going to want to snipe the ICPs as quickly and as far away as possible. One will be patrollen the walkway you're on, and one will be in the side room you see. A Finder will also be floating around above the walkway so get rid of it too. Once dismissed, head along the walkway to where an AB sits off to the right side, just past the side room. Access it by jumping onto the boxes and retrieve the Base Damping ability and the permission (#2). Once you have both, walk into the side room and back a bit to the IO node sitting at the other end. Access it to talk with Ma3a, skip the conversation, and head back along the walkway into the portal to the next section.

On the next section of walkway you will have to take out another set ot ICPs. One will again be in a side room, while the other patrols the main walkway. Beware of where the walkway splits, as on the left path another ICP and a Finder are patrolling around as well. Take the left path, and a left again to follow the inner walkway around clockwise. Another ICP is waiting in an alcove. Take it out and continue onwards towards the center of the room. Be careful to keep the NPC alive that's walking around!

Pick up some energy from the White Energy Orb and equip your LOL. On your right will be the first of two bridge sections that lead around the perimeter of the chamber. Wait in front of the right bridge section and snipe the ICP walking around at the opposite side of the room. Now, you will have to navigate the perimeter of the room using the two bridge sections. The first, leading to the back, is quite slow and easy to follow. Bridge sections will appear in front of you and disappear behind, so keep up! About halfway through, the middle sections of each bridge part will go missing so be careful.

Once on the other side and back on the solid walkway, immediately look right and snipe the ICP inside the alcove. Once it's dead, head towards its position by jumping the gap. This is needed to shave off some walking time as we're trying to get a tight cycle here. At the back, energize the bit and head towards the next alcove on the right. Before you turn right towards the next one, snipe the ICP waiting in the far alcove to save having to do that while they have a risk of spotting you. Keep moving and always try to cut the corners to keep your speed up. In each alcove, energize the bit and walk away. Eventually all three bits are energized and you will be on the inner circular walkway again. On the right (the counterclockwise end of the walkway) you will find the second light bridge.

This one is twice as fast as the previous one, so navigate it carefully and quickly to get back to the main path. Back at the orbs, pick up energy or health as needed and watch out for ICPs spawning in from the walkways you came from. Get rid of them and any adds as necessary and find the NPC from before. If the NPC is cowering, press the talk button on it to make it stand up and walk towards the console on the walkway. You do not have the permissions to activate the console, but the NPC does. Equip the LOL while you wait, as two more ICPs are waiting on the next section of the walkway for you.

You will be able to see two alcoves on the left side of the next section of walkway. At the closer end of the second alcove, the first ICP is patrolling. You can snipe it just as it exits the alcove and before it spots you. The second ICP is waiting for you behind the two circular wall openings at the end. Snipe it with the LOL as well, or use your Disc to reflect its attacks and dispatch of it. Head towards its position, take a left turn twice past Ma3a and head into the portal.

Power Oculus

The Power Oculus does not require reconfiguration, so head out from your starting position immediately. A number of ICPs are patrolling the area. You will have to take care of all of them before Ma3a will head towards the socket she needs to be at. Straight ahead in the distance you will see a Finder patrolling around as well. Kill it with the Disc and turn right, where an ICP is waiting for you in a Port. Another ICP will be to your left, up the stairs. Further up the stairs is a third one, near some blocks. A fourth is on the right and behind you as you go around a stack of large boxes. If that didn't notify you that Ma3a is on the move, a fifth ICP is probably patrolling somewhere we haven't checked. Possible locations are the ditch that the Finder was in or the back of the area (as see from your starting position). Once all ICPs are gone, Ma3a will move towards the building at the top of all the stairs and ramps and insert herself into the socket.

You should have achieved another level-up at this point. Dump all possible points into health again, and any remainder into energy. At this point your health stat should be maxed out. Inside the building Ma3a is now sitting in there is a Health Orb. Absorb as much energy from it as possible, you will need full health for the next section!

Talk to Ma3a to raise a platform from an elevator shaft in the floor and ride it down. Equipping the LOL at this point is probably wise too. Once the platform is down, head out into the room and hug the right wall, to where an NPC is walking around a control room with several panels on it. You can skip the dialog here, but the NPC has to walk around and indicate things to you so there isn't much point here. Once the NPC is available again, activate them for the second part of the dialog and head out of the room, towards the small boxes stacked against the wall in front of you.

This is the part where maxed out health is very important. Without it you CANNOT COMPLETE THIS SKIP!

in the hallway where the boxes are a bit of floor is sticking out from the center of the area. Walk to the right of the dropoff point, hugging the wall. Below you will be a slope. Walk off the edge, making sure to both hug the wall, as well as the edge you just fell off of. If all goes well, you should be down to about 30 health, but still alive, and on the slope. Walk towards the center of the surface you are on, and down towards the side of the indentation ahead of you. You can drop down again onto the walkway below. Toggle the Bit in the socket there, turn around and head towards the other side of the chasm. You can just about make that jump with the gold Y-amp if you time the jump on the very edge.

Once on the opposite side, take the walkway to the left, where a moving platform is going back and forth. Use it to get to the next walkway, now on the right side of the chasm, and toggle the Bit on the right. If you're quick, you can snipe the Finder that is patrolling far above you before the lens drops into place.

Move onwards in the same direction, jumping a small gap to the next walkway section. Get your Disc out as you will need it up above. At the end of the walkway is a control panel that shows you the currently active lenses. Only the middle two should be lit up. From the corner of the walkway, jump across to the control panel. You should easily be able to clear the jump. From here there is a portal back up to the hallways. Do not take the portal yet. Instead, wait for the message "Power Router lenses aligned correctly" to appear, then go through.

Directly on your right will be a Health and an Energy orb. Take what you need from each and activate the Code Optimizer that's roaming about. Optimize the Cluster ability and exit. Equip the now beta Cluster ability. Across from the orbs is an ICP waiting. You can snipe it with a LOL if it hasn't spotted you yet, otherwise just use the Disc to dispatch of it. Another ICP will be towards the left at the other end of the hall, and a Security Rezzer is there as well, so more ICPs may be summoned. Kill all and take a right around the corner. Another two ICPs are along the hallway there, so take care of them. You don't need their permissions, so skip them.

Once the area is secure, head back towards the initial entryway of the room and into the control room. Activate the control panel that the NPC showed you how to use. Now is a good time to quicksave.

Head back towards the elevator that brought you down here and go back up. For the next part you will need the LOL, so equip it while you head over to Ma3a to speak with her. Skip her dialog twice, then head towards the back of the building she's in where a portal lays dormant. Head through when it activates.

You will find yourself atop the building inside a little sniper's nest. ICPs will run in from different areas of the map and attempt to get at Ma3a. They have the following spawn locations:

• A) Your initial spawn point, behind the corner
• B) In the far right corner from your current vantage point
• C) Behind the ramp leading up to Ma3a's position
• D) Just in front of the Port where you fought the first ICP

Each ICP only takes a single hit to take down, so it is not necessary to headshot every single one (but it would be impressive!). Towards your left is a White Energy Orb which you will need to recharge every so often, seen as the LOL is the weapon of choice and it uses a fair chunk of energy.

Prioritise ICPs who have shorter walking paths, specifically the ones spawning behind the final ramp and the ones spawning in the far right corner, which is usually a blind spot.

ICPs come in waves:

• 1 from A
• 1 from A, 1 from B
• 1 from A, 1 from C, 1 from D
• 1 from A, 1 from C, 1 from B
• 2 from A, 2 from D, 1 from B
• 2 from C, 2 from B, 1 from A

At about 10 seconds left, ICPs will start coming from all spawn locations continuously. Kill the ones closest to the exit ramp and don't worry too much about the ones that have far to travel. They will not make it before the timer runs out. Once the timer does run out, all ICPs are de-rezzed and the level ends.

Antiquated

Abandoned Test Grid

You will be forced into the abilities menu, so equip the LOL, the Cluster, the Y-amp and the Primitive Charge. Once you exit the menu you are met with a little surprise! A seeker has come to seek you out, and it has apparently found you. Equip the Cluster and smack it from a medium distance. The best place to target it is in what I will charitably call its head. You can damage it with the Cluster until it starts sparking, after which you can get in 3 more hits before it goes underground. When it does, several Resource Hogs will spawn. Take these out with the LOL to return to the Seeker fight.

The seeker will attack you with a powerful melee attack when you get too close, so keep some distance from it. At medium range it uses a Mesh attack which is fairly trivial to deal with. Resource Hogs are equipped with the Suffusion ability, which is a shotgun-like version of the Rod. Again at close range they are quite deadly, but at longer range they aren't much of a threat, so just stay away and snipe them with the LOL. All in all you will have to deal with 3 cycles of Seeker, then Resource Hogs before you kill the Seeker altogether and end the fight.

Main Processing Core

A cinematic that we don't care about... Skip it.

When you spawn in an NPC will be directly in front of you and will be talking to you. Ignore him and head to the IO node to his right. Initiate the conversation with Ma3a, skip it and talk to the NPC and skip his conversation three times as well. Once he's done blabbing about the good old times, head to the forcefield that's on the right of your initial spawn location and the NPC will follow you.

The next part I can only really describe as: frustrating. On the left and right are two sets of tanks, who will be firing at you from 6 different angles. In the middle of the room is a set of platforms that despawn and respawn after a good while. While you are on solid ground, the tanks will fire directly at you. The shots are slow and easy to dodge but there are 6 of them. However, once you approach the center part with the platforms, the tanks will instead start targeting the platforms. They don't seem to exactly keep you from progressing: the platforms they target are random, but it is very possible that you end up in mid-jump and the platform gets shot out from under you.

Your goal is to jump across the platforms as they appear and make it to the far side of the room.

On the far side, some boxes are stacked up against the wall. Jump across the closest box on the right, walk across it and drop down next to the AB. Access it and retrieve the permission (#3). Once you have the permission, get out of the nest of boxes and head further towards the back of the wall. A Code Optimizer is roaming around on a wall section that we want to use. To your right and left are a Health Orb and a White Energy Orb as well. When the Code Optimizer comes around again, access it and upgrade the cluster to gold. You can run up the slanted wall section and jump to access the Code Optimizer for a shorter wait.

Now head back to the central pillar among the platforms. Stand on the first black and white platform on the right, next to a panel. Press the button on the panel and the section you're on will ride up the central pillar. At the top of the pillar are 4 sets of panels around the central axis. Activate all of them by going around the center counter-clockwise and jumping across the corners to save walking time. Once the fourth panel has been activated a bridge appears in front of you. Head up it and to the left, where a Resource Hog is waiting. Dispatch of it and access the IO node. We still don't care about the story so skip the dialog and head back towards the center, where a portal has been activated. Enter it.

This next section happens along an outer circular section of the level. There are 4 rooms, with Resource Hogs in each of them, and tunnels lead between the rooms. These tunnels transport you automatically, but they're all one way. Doing this part quickly therefore means that we spend the least amount of time travelling across the rim of the section. Missing a room means travelling at least another full circle around.

When you port in, an NPC is showing an interaction icon. Talk with this NPC and walk beyond him, towards the white beam emanating from your room section. As you clear the boxes, a few Resource Hogs emerge from the transport tunnel. Dispatch of them while they're still landing for a clean victory. From one of the Resource Hogs we are going to want a permission (#5).

Once you have the permission we need, travel across three tunnel sections (skipping the rooms inbetween) so that we've travelled around 270 degrees. On the third room, once you exit the tunnel, head to the left immediately and jump across the boxes in front of you. A Resource Hog will be waiting in the lower section of this room so dispatch of it and move across the room towards the back right platform. You can walk up the ramp to access the panel, but it is also possible to jump up to the section the panel is on immediately and activate the panel. Take care to not jump down from that platform, as that puts you in contact with the energy beam above, and that will hurt.

When heading out to the transport tunnels, another batch of Resource Hogs will appear. One of these should have a permission (#8) that we need.

For the next room, we're travelling 180 degrees across the circle again, skipping one room which was the initial room we entered in. A Resource Hog will be in this room as well, but they may lay in hiding until you access the panel, which is on the left side of the room this time. Activate the panel and head back out. By this time you should see the Resource Hog so take it out and move towards the exit tunnel, travelling another 270 degrees towards the final room.

This room has no Resource Hogs, but top off your health with the Health Orb in this room and head across from the Health orb to the IO node that is off to the left side of the room, up the ramp. A conversation starts which we immediately skip, ending the level.

Ancient Grid Arena

For a change of pace we have another lightcycle section here. We can do the regular circle self-kill here or you can just turn left or right once since we start in an alcove and there's walls on our left and right. Either way, end the race and we head to the next level.

Main Power Pipeline

The level starts with a conversation, so skip it. Behind you are two walls of boxes and an White Energy Orb. Head between the stacks of boxes and follow the yellow light pathway to an opening. A couple of Resource Hogs are around here: one near the top of a set of ramps and one further down below along the lower paths. Take both out and head down the second ramp to the right. The next trick is very tight but allows you to skip a detour. Make sure to jump across any corners to save time and head up the ramp to the left, killing the Resource Hogs up the ramp. If you're quick enough you'll be able to make it up the ramp before the ceiling collapses in behind you. If you don't make it, head back out where you entered this tunnel, up the ramp again and to the right.

A Health Orb sits on the right of the next tunnel, so top up and head through the tunnel and up the ramp towards the left. A Resource Hog patrols up and down this ramp, so take it out, as well as its friend who's stationed at the top of the ramp. A few more Resource Hogs are on the left and right side of the oval shaped pathway. We want to go left, so take out the one that's there first. Resource Hogs are no threat at a distance so use the Disc to take out all the Resource Hogs in this room and head across to the exit.

Next we enter Fall damage: the game. A few more Resource Hogs are on the bridge in this room. Dispatch of them and head towards the end of the bridge, facing left. You can save some time by falling or jumping a bit earlier here and there, but this entire room is based on cycles and there's only so much you can do before a slower cycle trips you up. Quicksaving on every platform can help you to fix timing mistakes.

The platforms to take are:

• From the bridge, step forward onto platform 1
• Platform 1 descends and joins up with platform 2 towards the front left
• Platform 2 descends again and joins up with platform 3 straight ahead
• Platform 3 is caught up by platform 4 as it descends faster. Fall down onto it.
• Wait for platform 4 to ascend again while turning around to face the wall structure. When almost at the top of the cycle, jump onto the two platforms floating in front and above the structure
• Drop down from the platform onto the structure and activate the pole that sticks out of the wall.
• When facing that pole directly, turn right and wait at the edge of the platform for moving platform 5 to appear from above. Jump onto it when it arrives and ride it up.
• When you reach platform 6 the cycles of 5 and 7 should have synced up, so hop straight across to platform 7 and ride it up.
• Platform 8 moves very fast so jump onto it once you are high enough up.
• Jump onto platform 9 and walk across it to the next wall structure. Activate the pole again and walk on towards the back of this platform.
• Drop down onto platform 10 and straight on onto platform 11 and 12. You can do these all in one go, since they line up exactly.
• Platform 12 will descend, but it is not quite possible to skip the small platform 13, so drop down onto 13.
• Wait for it to descend (and for 14 to ascend a bit) and drop down onto platform 14.
• If the cycles have synced up you should be able to run onto 15 immediately.
• A very small platform 16 will be on your right, step onto it as you come down to it.
• Platform 17 will be straight ahead, but we can skip a few platforms if we drop from 17 on the front left side and hit the platform right ahead. Immediately walk onto the next platform which will now be 19, take a hard left and walk onto platform 20.
• Ride this platform down to the wall structure and activate the pole like the others.

Before we continue the platforming, equip your LOL and look up. A few Finders are roaming around far above, and they have a very long range indeed. Snipe them with the LOL to make the final ascent a lot safer.

The structures will all send their surrounding platforms up, so ride it up and take out the Disc while you wait. A row of white platforms will appear when you are almost at the top. Jump onto them and run across to the central bridge. Take a left and head towards the doorway. If we're lucky, a few Resource Hogs may take up nicely snipable positions across the gap in the next room, so use the Disc early to take them out and save on some damage.

You can take either the left or the right side of the walkway, but you can save some time by going along the inside of the vertical beams instead of going around. Simply jump across the final gap and head towards the NPC that's waiting there. Activate it, skip the conversation 4 times and one final time as the NPC is overloaded with a riddle. Step through the portal. Somehow, the NPC from the beginning managed to make it all the way here, and before us too! Talk with the NPC and take some health and energy if you need it while the conversation goes on. Skip two parts of the dialog with the NPC and Ma3a and wait for the NPC to activate the final bridge. Run up the bridge to the trigger that ends the level.

And of course we skip the cinematic.

Master User

City Hub

A new server, a new configuration. Load up your Cluster, Power Block, Primitive Charge and Y-amp and process your level up by putting all your points into energy.

Welcome to the internet.

Ma3a is floating around ahead of you. Ignore her and walk straight ahead, to where a small console stands up on a post. Activate the panel to call the platform from the other side over to you. Wait for it to arrive, then hop on and activate the console in the center of it on the left side. That will take you across to the far side of the void.

On the other side, walk forward, past large black pillar with yellow highlighting, an turn right at the corner. An NPC is casually leaning against the wall with an interaction sign above its head. Start a conversation with it, then skip the conversation and walk away. Follow the curvature of the black and yellow pillar around to the left and walk up to a stack of boxes. You can clip-jump up onto this stack by first jumping up to the middle box, then to the left one, and finally over the stack. Once on the other side, follow the curvature of that same pillar some more until you see a gap. Walk into this gap which puts you into official OOB territory. You can walk around inside that area as long as you make sure that you're not too close to the walls.

The Kernel will be broadcasting a message that we can skip the usual way.

A timer will start that will count down from 2 minutes. Normally you would have to be dodging Z-lots and ICPs as they battle eachother (and you) in the arena right ahead of you. However, since we're now OOB, none of them can path to you and they will either ignore you altogether or get stuck at the boxes where we were last seen inbounds.

Just wait out the timer. Make sure to quicksave when the timer is about to run out.

Having narrowly escaped the massive battle with our lives intact, we end up in front of the Progress Bar. We will need to enter this but first we need to do a few chores. Directly in front of us is a path that leads to a Code Optimizer. Head towards it and activate it. We are upgrading Primitive Charge this time. Turn it into a beta piece of software, exit the Code Optimizer and turn left. A small tunnel with three blue panels in it should be ahead. Walk towards it and hug the right wall to go up the ramp.

Beyond the corner are a number of Z-lots in waiting. Dispatch of them with the Disc and run towards the back of the room where a few more Z-lots and a Corrupted Wizard (?) are. The Corrupted Wizard can be dispatched with two Discs to the face. Talk with the NPC who was apparenly stuck there and head back towards the front of this room, where you will find an IO node.

Activate the node and skip the conversation as usual, then head back around the corner on the upper path. Jump down onto the floor below in front of the water, then hop through the water towards the entrance of the Progress Bar.

A little cinematic wants to play. We don't. We win.

Progress Bar

Inside the Progress Bar, head right into the hallway from the entrance and follow the hallway until it splits. Take the right exit into the main dance hall. Directly across from our entry point is an orange NPC with an interaction sign above its head. Talk with it, skip the conversation and head along the right side of the central column towards another NPC and the DJ. The DJ is in an orange-and-blue booth. Talk to the DJ and they will ask you to check with the patrons which song is their favourite.

Directly across from the entrance to the DJ booth is a doorway with a portal behind it. Take the portal up to the 2nd level. Directly in front of where you exit the portal are two ABs. Access the bottom left one and retrieve the permission (#6). Then, access the other bin and retrieve the other permission (#8) we'll need.

With both permissions logged, walk right out of this room, cross the bridge and activate each NPC. This will advance the thrilling plot of the favourite song. Two NPCs upstairs will want to weigh in, and when you're done there, just drop off the ledge into the main floor and ask the patrons there. When making the round, look out for the White Energy Orb near a wall. Behind it on a wall is a Code Optimizer. Access it and use it to upgrade the Primitive Charge again. After you've interviewed 5 patrons about their music choices, head to the DJ and tell them that track 6 won. It should be option 2 in the menu.

Then, head over to where Ma3a is hanging out and talk to the purple NPC next to the booth. This will allow us to use the compiler booth while the NPC is dancing.

Head back to the portal that leads up to the 2nd floor (opposite the DJ booth) and go through. Once again go out of this room, across the bridge and head towards the IO node in the back. Activate it to trigger a semi-bossfight.

You will be teleported down to the main floor. Hit the boss with the Disc while you make your way up to the portal to the 2nd floor again. Up on the 2nd floor, head across the bridge and jump over the bench there to where the White Energy Orb is. If you crouch and stay in the middle of the bench (the two blue markers will show you were to be) the Z-lots that spawned all over the room can't hit you.

To defeat the boss, wait for it to create a green glowing energy ball in front of it. It will raise its hands to lob the energy ball at you, but if you hit it with the Disc while the boss is still holding it, it will explode and hurt the boss instead. Occasionally take a sneak peek towards the left of your floor to make sure a Z-lot didn't figure out you are there. If there is one on the upper level, kill it. Otherwise leave them alone. They cannot hit you in this location.

In the 3 minutes this "battle" lasts the boss will perform their energy attack 6 times. Ideally you will only have to attack exactly 6 times in this entire battle.

When the timer ends, a cinematic will play that, in accordance with tradition, we will skip.

Outer Grid Escape

Ah, another lightcycle stage. Do the needful.

fCon Lab / Retrieving Ma3a

We skip the cinematic. Next!

Remote Access Node

The level starts with a conversation which we of course skip. Turn around and see that there is a ramp ahead, with two offshoot hallways just before it on the left and right. Take the one on your right. A Resource Hog is busy Hoggin' resources, so kill it while it's busy and walk around the corner, where a second Resource Hog is waiting. Dispatch of it and walk down the ramp ahead of you, across the floor and to the right of it. A series of blocks juts out from the side of this floor. On the furthest pillar is a bit socket. Jump up to it and energize the bit. While you energize the bit you can continue walking up the ramp. A Resource Hog will be somewhere around the sections to the left. We will want to go right, up the second ramp to take out the Resource Hogs there.

Continue along the left wall to go back down the other side. A Resource Hog tends to be behind the corner there, so be aware. Jump on top of the block in front of you and drop down the far side. Head towards the bit socket where a bit is currently in the Off state. Toggle it to activate a portal a bit behind it and towards the wall. Walk through the portal to access a lower level.

From this portal, walk forward to the corner of the trapezoidal block to your left. Go round this corner and immediately head in between the two blocks that are now on your right.

In this area you will find a series of floating cubes. We must drop down the chain until we reach an AB. Retrieve the permission (#5) from this AB and jump back up to the floor you were on. It is possible that some Resource Hogs are waiting for you at the top, so take them out wholesale and press on up. Once back up go right, around the trapezoidal block and head towards the AB. A Resource Hog patrols this area so take it out. The AB contains two permissions (#1, #8) and we want them both. When we have them, walk left along the wall in front of you until you reach a small cove at the back. All the way in the back corner is a bit socket with an unpowered bit. Power it and leave, making sure to hug the now right wall and jumping over the blocks. Ignore the portal we came down through and head past it, along the right wall all the way to the far wall. There are Health and Energy orbs in small alcoves along the right wall if you need any of that.

You should arrive at the bit socket at about the same time the bit does, so you can activate it almost immediately upon arrival. Toggle the bit to Yes and walk into the portal behind it. The task here is simple: from the portal, walk straight ahead to the bit socket. Toggle the bit to Yes, then head straight back to the portal. Walk along the left wall (a second chance for some health or energy) and walk into the portal that takes us back up to the top floor.

Turn to the right once you exit this portal and hug the right wall. Round the corner where an ICP will be waiting. Take it out and proceed down the ramp on the other side. Two more ICPs, one of which is a Sequencer ICP will be waiting at the bottom of this ramp. Power Block is extremely useful here, since it can help you deal with the Sequencer much faster.

Once these two ICPs are toast, turn left and head down the ramp where another ICP is waiting. If you hug the right wall when going down, you can cut across the little wall and run down the slope to a Health Orb. Drop down and run to Mercury. She will tell you to prepare for exit port activation, which we do by not doing anything. Mercury will walk a little ways towards a console, then turn around. Initiate a conversation and skip it three times. Then just walk into the white beam to end the level.

Alliance

Security Server

Unfortunately a cinematic plays here that is unskippable. Tt takes 2 minutes and 53 seconds to run and contains very little in the way of actual story information. Why this cinematic of all is unskippable... Who knows?

Thorne's Perimeter Partition

Once again, a conversation starts a level and once again, we don't care a bit. Skip it and turn around. A few seconds later, the game remembers that we have to configure our memory so we are put into the abilities menu. Equip the Cluster, Primitive Charge, Y-amp, Viral Shield, Peripheral Seal and Base Damping. Then get ready for unpatched Windows XP connected straight to the Internet.

Walk along the platform you're currently on while staying on the left a bit. If you look down at the end, you can see a path down to the floor level. Just drop down to the floor and head across the bulge in the floor. A few ICPs are patrolling the area but unlike other levels, ICPs here are not hostile! Killing one counts as a friendly NPC kill and will fail the level. Head past the NPC and the ICP having a conversation and jump down onto the path made out of white noodles. It meanders out into the ocean of... something and up to another section where a number of Z-lots await.

For this section you will want to run ahead, and only kill Z-lots if they're straight in your path. Since they take a while to spawn in, it is possible to kill a Z-lot while it hasn't been fully spawned in yet. Be sure to avoid the white targeting laser like beams that are hitting the floor: they will cause explosions that do a lot of damage.

Keep as much to the right as possible and walk into the chasm where you will see an Energy Orb to your right. Two Z-lots are clumped up and will be firing with Ball Launchers at you so make sure to take them out safely. Further along two more Z-lots await, take them out as well.

Keep pushing forward until you reach a tunnel entrance. A Z-lot protects the entrance but you can just run around him and round the corner at the end. Jump across the section of broken road and round the corner again. You will see an ICP here protecting the area. We can perform a small skip here to save from dealing with a number of Z-lot fights. To the left of this room as you enter is a pit in the floor. On this pit is a black slab that juts out from the wall. If you stay on the very edge of that slab, you can jump from it to the other side of the pit, saving a detour and some fighting.

Once across the pit one way or another, head out towards the tunnel exit where a raised platform and some spinning debris are. This is a miniboss fight. A stronger version of the Corrupted Wizard we saw earlier appears here. To start the fight, walk up to the raised platform and look for a broken section of the floor where you slightly drop down. Stand there and crouch, keeping the Disc ready. The Corrupted Wizard will appear overhead in the center of the rotating columns. Hit it in the face three times, until sparks appear around it. The Corrupted Wizard will disappear and after a few seconds, reappear.

Keep performing the same Disc attacks until the Corrupted Wizard has sparks, wait for it to go and come back. Rinse, repeat.

It will take roughly 8 or 9 cycles of this before we kill it, but this method is very safe. There is a possibility that one of the boss' attacks hits us. The Viral Shield will help but if a submodule does get corrupted, hop into the abilities menu to put that module in the disinfect subroutine. You can tell whether a module is infected by checking the icons on the upper right. If they are blue, they're safe. If they're green, that means they got infected and will need to be disinfected. If you have any level up points to spend on energy, do it now.

Once you've dealt the last hit on the boss you have a few seconds to regain some health from the Health Orb on this platform before a cinematic plays.

Of course it doesn't, because we skip it.

fCon Lab / Prepare the DataWraiths

Cinematic. Nothing to see here, move along.

Thorne's Internal Partition

The same IO node thing... Exit out of it and turn right. This level can be very short if we can do the skip here. Walk down the pathway and the wonky stairs. The pathway curves off to the left but there is an opening between two large black pillars. We can jump through this to get onto the next section of the path just a little bit faster.

To do this, walk down to about the third step from the pillars and jump exactly into the gap. If you started from high up enough you will go through. Once through, turn right and head a bit further until we reach an Energy Orb and a Health Orb. The Energy Orb is going to be used to setup a clip.

It is possible to jump up on the top of the Energy Orb. From there, you can reach a point in between the yellow mountain and the black pillar to the right. Make sure to quicksave when attempting this, it is a very hard clip to do.

If you can't make the clip, you will unfortunately have to play the level normally, which means going around the entire perimeter counter-clockwise, dealing with Z-lots and generally being slow, so it's well worth attempting a good 20 or so times.

If you made the clip, you're now OOB again. To your right will be the pillar you jumped past, and to your left is a yellow goopy slope. In front of you is a second black pillar. Between the pillars is a small gap. Head inbetween the two pillars and the slope will push you down between them. If you go down the slope too far you run into a kill plane, so hug the left pillar as you're going along and get out of the area at the first opportunity on the left. You will be able to walk up this slope and up onto the walkway which, handily, is right next to the level exit. Don't head right into the pit too early, as the death plane extends quite a bit out beyond the OOB area you were just in!

Thorne's Chamber Core

Cinematic is skipped as usual and we enter our second boss fight!

We will be fighting the Kernel here, and there honestly isn't too much to this fight. In front of you to the left you will see a Health Orb, just in case.

The first phase of the fight is literally just Tank 'n Spank; you trade Disc blows with the Kernel while he's up on the platform. 10 Disc hits to the face will damage him enough that he moves on to the second phase, which is on the floor you're on. You can continue the Disc assault here but it is quicker to use the Melee Attack (which we've not used before!) using the Disc to repeatedly slap him in the face. The Melee Attack deals a surprisingly high amount of damage when applied to the forehead and is the preferred way to kill the Kernel.

12 hits to the face with the Disc will kill the Kernel, who will derezz into a puff of logic.

Cinematic. Skip. you get it by now.

Handshake

Function Control Deck

A short and sweet level; we've ended up inside a PDA (Ahh, early 2000's technology!) and we're going to break it.

We start off by being kicked into the abilities menu and the catch for this level is that this is a tiny PDA. It doesn't have much memory to work with, so you can't equip a lot of abilities. One alpha and two gold abilities are the only things that will fit, so of course we pick the Y-amp. We actually leave the other slots empty because we don't really need anything else!

Once done, close the menu and head straight towards the grey console right in front of you. A button is on the left side, but it doesn't stand out much since it's just as grey. Activate it and head off to the right side of the room, towards a doorway at the end. A Finder is patrolling the path beyond the doorway so if you spot it, take it out. You can tell whether any Finders are nearby since they emit a short high-pitched squeak every second or so. Follow the pathway to an intersection where a button sits on a panel to the left of an abyss. Activate the button and walk across the bridge that appears to your right.

You will end up in the middle, with only one bridge activated. Look down below and to the right. Two moving panels are sliding back and forth on a rail. Drop down onto the right platform as it approaches. You might take a bit of fall damage but nothing too bad. Ride the platform as it returns to the outside of the bottom part of the room and jump across the gap for the last bit to save some time. Activate the button that's right in the center of this large device. Immediately turn around and jump back onto the platform as it departs. If you don't jump the gap you will not have enough time to make the cycle, losing about 30 seconds.

Ride the platform to the center, transfer to the other one and ride it to the other side. Make sure to jump the gap here as well, then activate this button too. Once you activated the button, turn right and walk into the doorway there. Follow the hallway into the bottom part of the other room and activate the elevator button to the right here. Step onto the elevator and press the button on the same panel on the other side.

As you come up a Finder will be patrolling this area. It starts off near the ceiling on the opposite side of where you entered the room, then does a loop around the far semicircular side to end up right above where you entered. Snipe it with the Disc if you see it. Run along the length of the room until you reach the semicircular section, where the last button is located. Simply activate that one to end the level.

Note: These buttons are all timed and will deactivate after a minute. If you activate all 4 buttons within that minute, you end the level. Take too long and they will start resetting, greatly increasing the amount of time you have to roam around to reactivate them. Speed is of the essence here!

It takes a while for the level to end, but when it does, we skip the cinematic.

Data Base

Security Socket

The level typically starts with an IO node and a pointless conversation that we completely ignore as per usual.

Once again we are kicked into the abilities menu. Equip the Cluster, Y-amp, Primitive Charge and Power Block. The game is a bit weird about where it places items when you activate them, so manually shuffling them around into a configuration that makes more sense might be needed.

Turn right and you will see an AB in the distance. (100% addendum: a build note might be right around the corner from your starting position. Just move forward a bit and look left.) If you keep to the center of the walkway and walk forward, an ICP will spawn right between the boxes that are just to your left. You can snipe it with the Disc as it spawns in, saving you another fight. Walk further forward and another ICP, this one carrying a shield, will step out from behind the corner on the right. The quickest way to defeat him is to get close so he tries to shield bash you, then snipe him with the Disc as he opens his guard. Step around the corner where he came from and Snipe the Finder that's off in the distance as he will be a nuisance a bit later on if you don't.

Once that finder is dead, go back around the corner, look left and down. A Code Optimizer is roaming around down below you. Its cycle takes it from about the top of the wall to about a quarter from the bottom in a line. We're not going to immediately use it for optimizing an ability; we are first going to use it as a step stool. On the wall are two sets of hexagonal markings: one above and slightly to the right and one below it and to the left. When the Code Optimizer clears the top line of the top hexagon, fall down and onto the Code Optimizer. Turn around to the left and look down below to see an AB and fall onto that next. Now jump up at the bottom to reach the Code Optimizer and activate it. Use it to upgrade your Power Block ability for more damage.

Once that is done turn right and walk down the alley and around the corner. A bit socket is there in the corner, so power it up while walking away to the right. A White Energy Orb sits here along the path to the left so use it if you need to, then walk towards the white forcefield ahead and position yourself next to the bit socket. After a few seconds the bit will appear and you can toggle it to the Yes state to unpower the forcefield. While you wait, activate your Cluster subweapon.

With the forcefield down, you will have to navigate a number of strange panels that just get in your way and push down a piston that is in the center of this room. When that's done, turn right a bit and walk towards the next forcefield. Position yourself at the far left side of the forcefield where you can see an AB through it on the other side. Once the forcefield drops, head in to activate the forcefield and retrieve the permissions (#5, #7) it contains. Turn around immediately as downloading these permissions triggers a DataWraith to appear behind you. Give it a face full of Cluster, then face the room you walked through to see another DataWraith spawn in on the other side. Give him the same treatment.

When the permission download completes, pick up the core dump for some energy and leave this set of rooms. If those purple panels get in the way, you can destroy them with any physical damage weapon, including the Cluster.

Turn left just before you leave the room to set up for a quick dispatching of two more DataWraiths. The Cluster is a great way to dispatch them and you can get the energy for it back by taking their core dumps. Head past where they spawned in and head up the ramp on the left side. You don't really need the cluster anymore at this point and it uses energy so for energy saving strats switch back to the regular Disc here.

Jump up to the second ramp jus before the end of the first one for a small timesave and head up the second ramp, across the small bridge and jump up to the top floor from the bottom of the ramp. Dead ahead is a portal that we will be taking.

This portal takes us through to a cooling tower of sorts (?) with several Power Tabs taped to the inside walls. They look like two grey outcroppings with a small yellow beam between them. Throw your Disc into the beams in the center to destroy the Tabs. The first Tab is on the right and down a bit immediately after you step through the portal. Destroy it and head around the central energy beam into the portal on the opposite end of the room.

In this room, one Tab is on your right as you exit the portal. You can kill it almost immediatly after exiting the portal. A second Tab is about 90 degrees counter-clockwise from the first one, so hop on up on the central table and take out that one. Finally, on the way back to the portal, the last Tab is right behind the portal you came out of. Destroy it and head back through.

The central beam is now no longer active, so we can walk straight back to the initial portal that brought us here to get back out. Take this opportunity to get the Cluster back out for the next section.

Once out of the portal, hang left and head towards the energy bridge ahead. An ICP is guarding it, so take him out with the Cluster. As you approach the bridg three more ICPs will spawn in in the hallway just beyond the first corner. You can get an early snipe by bouncing the Cluster off of the wall to let it hit the group. A Shield ICP will likely survive, so take him out by having him attack with his shield as before. Once that group is gone, head through, taking a bit of energy from the White Energy Orb on the right if needed and around the next corner.

An ICP here will be running up the stairs to get to a Security Rezzer. You can get him if you toss your Cluster at him while he runs. If you miss, that's ok, but make sure to get him before he activates the Station! Another Sequencer ICP will be waiting at the bottom of the stairs so take him out as usual.

Head along the left wall of the room towards the blue-rimmed exit hallway ahead. As you enter this hallway an ICP will be running in the distance. You can snipe him with a well-placed Cluster, preventing him from activating another Security Rezzer. In the foreground a bit later, another Shield ICP will try the same thing. If you aim the cluster at his feet you can take him out in two throws.

To the right is a stairway that leads to a lower floor. A Regular ICP, a Shield ICP and a Finder walk into a bar... Sorry, are waiting for you down below. If you can snipe the Finder quickly enough its explosion will take out the ICPs. Otherwise just kill all three in turn. The Energy Orb here can be used for energy but make sure not to deplete it as we need it for a small skip!

Jump on top of the Energy Orb facing the wall, and jump up on top of a ledge sticking out from the wall. You can now walk left along the ledge, around the corner. Walk straight on until you reach another corner on your left, round it, and walk into the portal to your left.

Your regular Disc is good enough here to take out the Resource Hog on the top platform and the first Power Tab. Head on through the portal ahead and into the lower level.

Like before, three Tabs are down here that we need to take out. A Resource Hog patrols this place, so take it out if its a nuisance, otherwise don't bother. Destroy the tabs and head back up the portal to the top floor and out.

Get the Cluster back out as you exit the portal and go round the corner that we came from. A bridge section is missing here, but we can skip that by walking off to the side of the bridge, past the Health Orb here, and then jump from the very edge of that corner to the corner of the far side of the bridge. Around the corner to the right here is a Finder, so take it out. If you heard the sound of ICPs rezzing in just now, that's correct. Two of them will be waiting near where we took out that running Shield ICP. Get them both at once with the Cluster and head left back into the blue-rimmed hallway. Once you exit that hallway, the exit port is right here on your left.

Firewall

The Firewall level strangely enough doesn't start with a cinematic. As startling as this is, we are immediately drawn into action as we spawn in a side room, in full view of a group of ICPs. The two ICPs in this room will attempt to run towards a Security Rezzer at the other side of the room. Additionally a Finder is patrolling this room as well. Get them all out of the way and head into the doorway that is just to the left of the Security Rezzer with an active portal.

The first part of the firewall consists of a long walkway with rotating holograms around it. The second part of the walkway has a forcefield that scans the tunnel part of the walkway. Run down the walkway and completely ignore the forcefield, as it only does 10 damage. Activate the bit at the end and turn around and head back. A small unskippable cutscene will play showing the completely realistic firewall configuration mechanics. Walk back through the portal into the circular room, take a left past the Security Rezzer and left again into the next alcove. Portal 2 awaits.

Same thing applies here: walk up to bit, completely ignoring the forcefields, activate it, watch the realistic cutscene and exit.

The third portal lies one alcove along to the left, so take that into the third part. Rinse, repeat.

Once back out of the walkway, a few ICPs will have spawned. Power Block will be your friend here, as you can block their shots while you make your way along to the next alcove along. You will have to navigate this part backwards to reduce damage taken. If you want, you can just leg it to the final portal that will take you to the final walkway. Here, to complete the configuration, we must activate three switches. They look like floating black '=' signs and will be on the platform off to the left. To complete the puzzle, activate the left terminal once, then the right one twice. A little cinematic plays showing the two data streams connecting. When that's done, head back into the portal we just came out of. No more ICPs will appear, instead the level ends there.

We skip the cinematic because we missed the opening one so much.

fCon Lab / Lost Alan

Skip. Continue.

Primary Docking Port.

The penultimate level starts not with an IO node conversation, but with a face to face one. Get the Cluster out and head forward, past the Digital Alan standing there. Two ICPs are lounging against the walls, a third is out of your view around the left corner, and off to their right is a Security Rezzer. Try to snipe the ICPs before they manage to activate the Rezzer for less of a hassle. Once they're gone, head on through and towards the corner on the right. Another ICP is waiting at the far wall, near some stacked boxes. Take him out and walk past his position towards the right, where another two ICPs wait further up the room.

Once those two are gone, a new ICP will be behind you next to a Security Rezzer. Try to snipe him before he makes the fight harder and head back into the stack of boxes he was in front of. A Sequencer ICP and a normal one are behind these boxes, so get them both and Activate the Code Optimizer that's roaming around on the floor here. For our final upgrade, turn the Power Block to gold. Turn around and head back past the White Energy Orb which we can tap in passing for some free energy. With full energy, head into your abilities menu and put the Power Block into a single slot. Then add the LOL to your arsenal. At this point you might as well add some more points into Energy if you have them, and if that's full, add the rest into Weapon Efficiency.

Get the LOL out as you walk back across this room to the far end and take a right. This hallway turns into a T-junction, so take a left and head to the overlook. Using the LOL, look down below towards the purple walkways in front of the large ship. A few ICPs are standing around down there. Make them not stand around using the LOL. A headshot will kill them instantly. Unfortunately missing the head means they may take as much as 4 hits to take down.

A conversation will be happening behind you as you take out the ICPs, skip it twice with the usual quicksave/quickload combo and head back towards the large room again. This time, just head towards the white forcefield near this end. The NPC that was talking with DAlan will open the forcefield for you. Equip the Cluster for an upcoming fight.

At the side of the forcefield where the NPC unlocks it is an Energy Orb, make use of that to regain some energy and head to the far end of the room where an unpowered bit lies waiting. Power it up and head back outside and back to the T-junction where we did the sniping. A DataWraith will spawn in inside the junction, so snipe it while it is still warping in for an easy kill. A second DataWraith will spawn in just off to the right of the first one, so get that one too. After a few seconds, the bit that we powered will appear and settle in its socket. Toggle it to Yes and proceed down the hallway.

To the left and right are a Health Orb and a White Energy Orb, so pick up what you need, the walk onto the platform and press the button on the front (left) side of it.

This next part is as close as this game gets to an autoscroller.

While the platform floats around we will need to pick of an ICP and a few DataWraiths. With an unupgraded LOL and on a moving platform, this part is definitely tricky to pull off. The ICP to pick off will be on the far left, on a raised section of the same platforms that we earlier sniped some ICPs off of.

With the ICP out of the way, wait until the platform docks with the first floating section and walk left and up to where the ICP was. An IO node is floating here, so activate it for a conversation we completely skip. Head back down the ramp and take the first left towards the first docking tether. At the end of this pier is a console that opens a shield on the ship's side. With that shield open, hit the pulsating part that was revealed to destroy the first of the tethers. Destroying this first tether causes DataWraiths to spawn up on the white hangar-like sections of the ship.

Head back towards the path where the platform dropped you off, and take a left onto the second pier. This time, you will be under fire from the DataWraiths off in the distance.

With the second tether destroyed, head back to the platform and activate it to go to the next section. This time, try to get rid of the DataWraiths on the ship as you fly by.

On the second part of the platform, take out the Cluster again and head off to the far pier, which is on the right side this time. As you approach the pier, two DataWraits will spawn on the far platform that we just came from. Give them a fist full of Cluster as you make your way to the next tether. If you didn't get them both, make sure to dispatch the second DataWraith on your way back to the main platform. Head to the last pier and destroy the final tether. Doing so will make a pod of DataWraiths appear on the ship again, so position yourself near the White Energy Orb and try to snipe as many of them as possible before heading back to the platform.

Do a quicksave before activating the platform and keep your LOL trained on the hangars, as some more DataWraiths may be lurking around.

When the platform is about to dock, a bridge at the front end against the far wall will activate and two ICPs, a regular and a Sequencer will run out. Snipe them with the LOL as they run across the bridge. Walk off the platform onto solid ground and look at the top of the ramp ahead. You should just about be able to see the head of an ICP sticking out. Go LOL on him. If you miss and run out of energy, just walk up with your Disc ready to finish him off.

Walk past where the ICP was to the back of the room where a stack of boxes and an IO node are. You will have to jump up the boxes to reach an AB about 5 layers up. Grab both the permissions (#2, #7) and drop back down to the floor. Access the IO node here and turn away from it, following the wall to your left into an alcove.

Get the Cluster out, as a DataWraith will be waiting around the corner on your right where the bridge is. Grab some health and energy here and head across the bridge, where the end of the level is.

fCon Lab / Failsafe Kicking In

Cinematic. Don't care. Bye.

Cargo Bay Sector

We start with a Seeker fight. This fight is the same as it was in Antiquated, except this time no Resource Hogs are around. Where the Seeker decides to pop up is random, unfortunately. Try to stay at medium range and Cluster the head for the most damage. If you can defeat the Seeker fast enough, the phase where DataWraiths spawn in to help it never happens, so its worth doing this quickly.

Once the Seeker is gone, use the Health and White Energy Orbs as necessary to get your levels back up and wait on the right side (from your initial starting position) of the platform. A gap in the wall will show you where a moving platform will dock. Activate the platform when it arrives to be taken up to the final general section of the game.

The Root of the Problem

Assembly Level

We enter a new server, so we start off by being put into the abilities menu. Equip the Y-amp, Cluster, Primitive Charge, Power Block and Viral Shield.

Once the platform docks, quicksave and head off into the hallway. Take a left at the first junction and you will see an ICP off in the distance. Try to snipe it with the Disc before it spots you and runs to a Security Rezzer halfway down the corridor. If it does make it there, a Finder is floating around near that area that you can use to kill it off (and any other units it may have spawned in.) Look to the other corridor (to your right) to make sure no ICPs are coming from there as well. When everything calms down, head towards the right hallway (straight on from the start) and around the corner, where an AB sits near the floor. It contains 5 nodes, one of which is a permission (#2) we want.

With the permission in the pocket, head back into the hallway where we fought the ICP and the Finder and run through to where several large boxes are stacked. A console there reveals this platform to be a lift, which we will be riding up. Jump onto the console to be able to get out of the slow moving lift earlier and get your Cluster ready.

This next area is a storage floor, with large purple boxes stacked around. Head right around the first container right in front of you, then go past the next container on the left. You should be passing a blue column to your left here. An ICP will be behind this purple container, which you can dispatch with the Cluster. Head on, passing a Security Rezzer on your right and through a small alley between two container. To the left around the corner is another ICP, so get your cluster ready and take him out as you pass the narrow section. Keep walking in the same direction, following the purple container on your right and snipe an ICP near the far wall ahead. Once you clear the purple container on your left, turn left by about 45 degrees and head towards a corner, making sure to stay right of the purple container ahead. An NPC will flee from an opening in the wall there, so head on through to the tunnel behind where it was. Some warp-in sounds indicate that more ICPs are coming after you so stay alert as you take a left, then turn right at the T-junction ahead.

Two ICPs are ahead in the tunnel, so take them out and round the corner to the right. Take a left where the walkway stops and you will come up to a doorway. Open the door, since we have permission (#2) and duck through it for some saved time.

This room is a small puzzle room. There are 6 console stationed around the room, three of them are on upper paths, three on lower paths. You can activate these in any order, but every time you activate one, a pair of DataWraiths spawn somewhere in this room. For the sake of clarity, all directions given in this room are based on the location of the entrypoint.

The easiest order to do this in is to head to the far side of the room using the top path, then head to on the left for a console on your right, and the second console to your left. When you activate the first console, a DataWraith will spawn behind you on the T-junction, so take it out with the Cluster in passing while you head for the second console. Head back to the central top path and walk in between the two black walls. Drop off the right side of this path onto the slope below, which will drop you onto the lower path. Turning around again to face the front of the room, the third console is straight ahead. Once you activate it, turn around once again and take a left under a power surge that might clip you a bit for some minor damage. Take the next right towards the back of the room for console 4.

Finally head back towards the front of the room and a Health Orb which we skip by jumping up to the sloped path to your right. The 5th console is up the second sloped path to your left and towards the front of the room, and the 6th one is on the same side, but back towards the back of the room. Activating these last 2 consoles spawns in another two DataWraiths on the slopes that lead up to these two consoles. Once the final console is activated, drop down from the upper path onto the snaking path leading up to these last two consoles, and jump straight ahead onto the central path (the rigth one of the two initial paths). Take a right towards the front end of the room where an elevator is waiting to your left. Step onto it and activate it.

You only need a little bit of additional height to reach the tunnel that's above and to your left, so turn left quickly and jump up and into the tunnel in the wall. This will take you along a final upper part in this room and out.

This next part is a bit of a maze:

Take a left at the first T-junction. Take a right at the next one, heading towards a Health Orb in the distance. Some DataWraiths will be spawning in here as well so keep the Cluster out and give it to them. Just before the end of this hallway, take a right into an adjacent hallway and take an immediate left. This takes us back into the storage room, but this time on the top path. Jump across to the first container on the left straight from the doorway, and jump across the following containers where you can see they form a pathway. About two containers away from the suspended walkway another DataWraith warps in so be aware.

On the pathway, two Sequencer ICPs and some DataWraiths are dotted around, so get rid of them asap and head towards the far end.

Another small maze: take the first left, walk onwards until the end and take a right. You will see an Energy Orb and around here a Code Optimizer is scurrying around. Use this Code Optimizer to upgrade Viral Shield to Beta. Move on towards the far end of the room, taking care of a few DataWraiths who are running around in here. Once at the far end, head right down the hallway and into the door there. Switch to the regular Disc at this point. The door to the control room is at the end to the left.

Inside the control room, you are immediately greeted by two Sequencer ICPs and an NPC. Leave the NPC alone but make sure to take care of the ICPs before they make it to a Security Rezzer on the right wall. A third regular ICP is waiting around the corner on the right as well. Once all the ICPs plus any possible adds are gone, head towards the NPC and talk to him. Skip this conversation three times, then wait for the level to end.

DataWraith Training Grids

We start and end a lightcycle race. There's three races here so end it three times and move on.

fCon Lab / fCon Team Enters Computer

This is another story heavy cinematic which we obviously skip.

Command Module

At last we reach the final level of the game. Since we didn't change server environments we aren't being forced into the abilities menu, so head away from the IO node and off to the Health and Energy Orbs in this room. Take what you need on the run and head out through the door ahead. To open the door you have to interrupt any download action so make sure to resume that once you've opened the door for some more health or energy.

This room contains a number of tanks (containers, not combat vehicles) and a few ICPs. Take out the Cluster for the DataWraiths that will be arriving later on and head between the two tanks to the right and towards the far end of the room. If you time it right a patrolling ICP should just about be next to the Security Rezzer on the wall, so snipe it while its unaware. Head left around the wall the Security Rezzer is on for another ICP who will be running around the wall. Once he's out of the way, ahead of you will be a white hologram depicting the ship you're currently on. Inside the hologram are 4 bits. Toggle each to No. With the 4th no in the bag, turn away from the holographic image to the left and head towards a circle sticking out from the ground at the far side of the room. Activate this circle, turn around towards the entrance make a run for it. Just keep to the right wall as you return to the room entrance and you'll make it out fine.

As you exit the door, take care of some DataWraiths in the tunnel beyond and head straight through towards and into a red tunnel. You want to walk straight into this and out the other side. Once you land on the opposite side the only trick left is a trick room. Open the door and take out the two DataWraiths in this corridor. Take the first right, snipe another few DataWraiths who are waiting further down the corridor and head left into a room divided into two parts.

This room is programmed to drop the ceiling on you, but it only does so on the side you initially head for. Walk towards the right side of the room, on the right of the two front black pillars, then quickly head left between these pillars and the black wall behind them. If you did this correctly the cave-in will have triggered on the right side of the room, and you will just have juked the trap by heading left. On the left side is also where the exit is, so turn left when the left wall stops, take out the final four DataWraiths there and activate the final door at the end of this corridor.

A cinematic will play. Finish it.

Incompatible

Digitizing Stream

This is the final boss of the game. Since this boss is corrupted, Viral Shield (especially upgraded) is very useful here. As well as Viral Shield you want to equip Cluster, Y-amp and Primitive Charge. Make sure to put each ability into a separate slot, and try to have no two abilities touch. This is important to prevent corruption spreading. If you have any points left to spend put them in Energy or Weapon Efficiency. At this point an ingame cutscene plays that we actually cannot skip.

The first phase begins when a set of platforms form under you to make a small arena. The boss, consisting of the 3 execs we saw in all of the cutscenes we skipped, is somewhere on the opposite side of this arena. This boss has 3 main attacks:

• an upgraded Mesh ability, consisting of rapid-fire but low damage bolts, like the ones we saw the DataWraiths fire
• a ball ability, acting as a grenade, much like the one we have but never use
• a melee attack.

Attack the boss using the cluster and try to get head shots for additional damage. As a bonus in this phase the boss actually has 3 heads so extra damage is very possible with the Cluster. You can charge your energy up once you get about halfway down and if you keep firing at the boss and spend energy using the Cluster you can keep the charge going for a long time. Ideally you will want to stay at medium range and repeatedly pelt the boss with the Cluster. If the boss uses the ball attack there is a chance that your abilities will get corrupted, If your Cluster ability gets infected (its icon at the top right will turn green) disinfect it immediately and continue the assault with the Disc until the Cluster is recovered. The Primitive Charge is also something that you should keep an eye on and disinfect it asap.

As soon as you have dealt enough damage to the boss, the first phase ends and the arena deconstructs around you. In this time the Health and Energy Orbs unfortunately do stop working. If you had a download going the sound effect of it still plays, which is a little confusing.

After a few seconds a second arena forms. The Orbs are in different locations this time, no longer side by side, and the boss is missing one head. Attack the boss with the Cluster as before, but this time it is possible to bait shots by strafing in and out of cover from the pillars in the middle part of the arena. Again, try to stay at medium range to bait the Mesh attack with it's low damage output, and make sure to drain the Energy Orb regularly while attacking.

Once the boss' health bar drops to zero again, the second phase ends.

The final arena appears under you after a few more seconds. This arena is a bit trickier since it has holes in it that you might fall down into, so be careful when navigating. Once again the Health and Energy Orbs are separate, so find the Energy orb (should be to your right as the arena builds) and position yourself at the top of the columns overlooking it. From this vantage point you can attack the boss down below easily. Draw him out of hiding by hitting the boss with the Cluster once, then drop down a level and head a bit off to the left to make the boss move.

The goal is to get the boss stand just to the left of the pillar made up of two rectangular boxes sticking out of the floor, while you yourself are on a ledge just beside the Energy Orb. Here you can bait out shots as before and dodge behind the blue block in front of you to minimize damage.

At that distance the Cluster takes a while to travel so dps will be slow but this is a fairly safe way to fight the last remaining version of the boss. At this point the boss no longer has the Mesh weapon and every attack will either be melee or the ball attack. Your Cluster might get corrupted at this point and that will increase its energy usage so keep the energy download up as much as possible.

If the damage becomes overwhelming, the red Health Orb is all the way on the far side of the arena, behind a stack of three blue boxes.

Once the final hit has been dealt and the boss has dissolved, that's time.

Errata

Final Words from the author

I've played this game casually as a kid many times, but have never really looked into speedrunning this. I'm sure there's further optimization to be done (especially in the 100% category).

For those interested in trying this speedrun: Tron 2.0 is available on gog.com for a very friendly price.

Thank you for reading and hope to see you on the leaderboards soon!