Any% Guide (January 2022)

4 Years Later after writting this and i'm back to make a few changes, around 90% of the Any% route has been the same since 2016, but some small improvements just happened recently, so i'm here to keep everything clean.
This guide made by text contains some easy steps to teach you how to finish the game with the fastest route, and to start off, let me explain how the game works, so you can understand why this is the fastest route:

[EXPLAINING THE GAME]

This game is based on choices, that are made by triggering inklings (random events through the World Map), each choice will provide you a different path, with a different faction. I believe that the maximum inklings you can trigger in one play is about 25~30 (in case your going for the true ending or something like that). However, since most of the first available inklings doesn't affect your possible endings, turns out that the game can be finished by triggering only 10 inklings (only 3 of them are important to get to the fastest ending, all the other 7 inklings are purely random and they need to be triggered because, somehow, the game will only unlock the story inklings if you play through a certain amount of random inklings first.

[HOW TO GET THE FASTEST ENDING]

I already played and ran this game multiple times on my X360, and i figured out this ending by watching the actual PC Version WR held by 'therealbmanbeast' and this route can be done in any category including 'Instant Kill' (as long as you have a good enemy RNG) and it goes like this:

1. (SKIP CUTSCENE x2) choose any dialogue to get warped to Takatane Village (SKIP CUTSCENE x2); 
2. Kick the wooden door in front of you and get out of Osei's House (SKIP CUTSCENE); 
3. Make your way down the stairs and go talk to Kota (SKIP CUTSCENE) and choose ''Calm Down, Kid'' dialogue (SKIP CUTSCENE x2);
4. Open the Menu > Map > World Map, warp to Omiki Town;
5.  Jump over the fence and run towards the bridge to trigger the inkling (SKIP CUTSCENE);
6. Warp to Castle Amana;
7. Talk to the guard in front of the main gate and choose ''Yes!, I have skills to prove!'' (SKIP CUTSCENE);
8. Defeat all enemies as fast as you can (SKIP CUTSCENE); 
9. Warp to Road;
10. Run through the trees in the right and go towards the temple entrance (SKIP CUTSCENE);
11. Warp to Castle Minori;
12. Talk to the guard at the gate and choose ''Why don't you use me?'';
13. Deal enough damage to any guard until the cutscene starts (about 40~50% of damage) (SKIP CUTSCENE x2);
14. Warp to Kuchihagahara;
15. Go to Shinnosuke's House (SKIP CUTSCENE);
16. Warp to Posting Station, then turn back and warp to Takatane Village;
17. Go upstairs to Osei's House and approach Munechika (SKIP CUTSCENE) then choose ''Are you harassing me?!'' (this inkling will skip one of Shinnosuke's last Inklings, saving about 30~35 seconds of walking and skipping things);
18. Go home and sleep until NIGHT;
19. Warp to Castle Minori (SKIP CUTSCENE x4) (this auto-inkling will skip one of Shinnosuke's Inklings, saving about 40~50 seconds of walking and skipping things);
20. Warp to Kuchihagahara;
21. Talk to Shinnosuke and choose ''Sakura... Sakurai?'' dialogue;
22. Warp to Posting Station, then turn back and warp to Takatane Village;
23. Go home and sleep until MORNING;
24. Go talk to Kota, choose ''You're pretty good'' (SKIP CUTSCENE);
25. Warp to Castle Amana;
26. Go to the main building entrance (SKIP CUTSCENE) choose ''The Crest is in Takatane Village'' (SKIP CUTSCENE);
27. The game will auto-warp you to the Village (SKIP CUTSCENE x4);
28. Warp to Kuchihagahara (SKIP CUTSCENE x4).

I'm currently planning on Speedrunning this game again, now on PC version, so if there is anything relevant to update here, i'll be doing so.

Any% Tutorial

This guide made by text, have some easy steps to teach you how to finish the game fastest as possible, but for first, let me explain how the game works. 

[EXPLAINING THE GAME/RUN]

This game is based on choices, that are made by triggering inklings (random events through the World Map), each choice will provide you a different path, with a different faction. I believe that the maximum inklings you can trigger in one play is about 25~30 (in case your going for the true ending or something like that). However, since most of the first available inklings doesn't affect your possible endings, turns out that the game can be finished by triggering only 10 inklings (only 3 of them are important to get to the fastest ending, all the other 7 inklings are purely random and they need to be triggered because, somehow, the game will only unlock the story inklings if you play through a certain amount of random inklings first.

[HOW TO GET THE FASTEST ENDING]

I already played and ran this game multiple times on my X360, and i figured out this ending by watching the actual PC Version WR held by 'therealbmanbeast' and this route can be done in any category including 'Instant Kill' (only if you have a good enemy RNG) so, with no more waiting, let's proceed to the tutorial.

1. [SKIP CUTSCENE x2] choose either the first or the second dialogue choice to be warped to Takatane Village [SKIP CUTSCENE x2], 
2. Get out from Osei's House, [SKIP CUTSCENE], 
3. Make your way down the stairs and go talk to Kota [SKIP CUTSCENE] choose ''Calm Down,Kid'' dialogue [SKIP CUTSCENE x2]
4. Open the Menu > Map > World Map, warp to Omiki Town
5. Run to the bridge to trigger the inkling [SKIP CUTSCENE]
6. Open the menu and Warp to Castle Amana
7. Talk to the guard in front of the main gate and choose ''Yes!, I have skills to prove!'' dialogue [SKIP CUTSCENE]
8. Defeat all enemies as fast as you can [SKIP CUTSCENE] 
9. Open the menu and Warp to Road
10. Run through out the trees in your right side and go to the temple entrance [SKIP CUTSCENE]
11. Warp to Castle Minori
12. Talk to the guard at the gate and choose ''Why don't you use me?'' dialogue
13. Deal enough damage to any guard until the cutscene start (about 40~50% of damage) [SKIP CUTSCENE x2]
14. Warp to Kuchihagahara
15. Go to Shinnosuke's House [SKIP CUTSCENE]
16. Warp to Takatane Village
17. Go upstairs to Osei's House and approach Munechika [SKIP CUTSCENE] choose ''Are you harassing me?!'' Dialogue (this inkling will skip one of Shinnosuke's last Inklings, saving about 30~35 seconds of walking and skipping things)
18. Go home and sleep until NIGHT
19. Warp to Castle Minori [SKIP CUTSCENE x4] (this auto-inkling will skip one of Shinnosuke's Inklings, saving about 40~50 seconds of walking and skipping things).
20. Warp to Kuchihagahara.
21. Talk to Shinnosuke and choose ''Sakura... Sakurai?'' dialogue.
22. Warp to Takatane Village.
23. Go home and sleep until MORNING
24. Go talk to Kota, choose ''You're pretty good'' [SKIP CUTSCENE]
25. Warp to Castle Amana
26. Go to the main building entrance [SKIP CUTSCENE] choose ''The Crest is in Takatane Village'' dialogue [SKIP CUTSCENE]
27. The game will auto-warp you to the Village [SKIP CUTSCENE x4]
28. Warp to Kuchihagahara [SKIP CUTSCENE x4]

[~THE END~]

[NOTE] I'm still playing a lot, because i believe that there is a way to skip the second sleep time, saving about 20~30 seconds, plus i think that the ''Senseless Person Ending'' can be the fastest one if we use a pre-made character with overpowered weapons, any other thing that i find, will be posted in this guide section, see ya!

How to do the 2nd Sleep Time Skip

If you already speedran this game on Main Categories, you realized that the first route was poorly improved, it was more of a power play instead of a speedrun, then new improvements came, we discovered that the traitor ending is the fastest one, we had Shinnosuke's inklings skips which saved about 1 minute and half, and now i discovered another skip that can save about 20~30 seconds, which consists into skipping the 2nd sleep time (going from Shinnosuke's inkling straight to Kota without having to sleep a 2nd time). But for first, i need to explain how the Clock System works before teaching the skip.

[EXPLAINING THE CLOCK SYSTEM]

This game works w/ a basic clock system, passing hours and days, just like normal RPG and Open World games, but the clock only run when you are passing through scenarios, this clock will always freeze during the following occasions:

- Cutscenes
- Interacting with NPCs
- Pausing the game

NOTE: None of this occasions stops the In-Game Time, it keeps running until you beat the game, no matter what you do.

However, every time that you Warp to a new location, the clock automatically advances 1 hour, and since most of the inklings can only be activated during specific times of the day, you need to sleep and advance time to be able to activate these inklings, and there is 6 different times of the day available to sleep and advance time: MORNING, NOON, EVENING, NIGHT, MIDNIGHT and DAWN.

[HOW TO SKIP THE 2ND SLEEP TIME]
 
During the speedrun, we use to go to Takatane Village to sleep 2 times, one after Munechika's inkling and the second one after Shinnosuke's inkling, 1st sleep to wake up at Night to trigger both Minori and Shinnosuke's inkling and the 2nd sleep to wake up at Morning to trigger Kota and Castle Amana's inkling. After a lot of research, i tried to sleep the first time until DAWN, because you wake up 4:00 AM and by this time the Minori and Shinnosuke's inkling are still available, but the problem is, as we already know, every time that we warp to a new location the clock advances 1 hour and Shinnosuke's inkling disappear after 6:00AM, which is the right time that we get to Kuchihagahara, and by this point i considered that was literally impossible to skip any of the sleep times. When i was routing Pacifist% i discovered an option that allows to ''customize'' the sleep time (you can wake up at any time you want instead of selecting the pre-set sleep times).

While you are speedrunning the game, if you get a decent time pace, you will be at Munechika's inkling between 15:00PM~16:00PM which is the perfect time to do this skip:

After triggering Munechika's Inkling, go home, select the 'Time' option, if your actual time of the day is between 15:00PM~16:00PM, then sleep 12 hours, it will take you between 3:00AM~4:00AM

Warp to Castle Minori - time advances 1 hour (3:00AM~4:00AM) [MIDNIGHT]
Warp to Kuchihagahara - time advances 1 hour (4:00AM~5:00AM) [DAWN]
When you open the Map for the 3rd time, Kota's inkling will not be available because its still DAWN, then, Warp to Takatane, and the time will advance +1 hour (5:00AM~6:00AM) and Kota's inkling will be available, and you will no longer need to sleep a 2nd time just to get his inkling, and from this point you can also go straight to Castle Amana after Kota (the time will be between 6:00AM~7:00AM) to trigger the last inkling.

NOTE: I'm trying to improve even more, maybe i will find a glitch to enter Shuzen's Room and then kill him in order to get an easy sub 5 on main categories, see ya!

Pacifist% Tutorial

At first i thought this category was impossible to be routed, but i'm very happy to say that i had found a way to do it. Since the Castle Amana's inkling is mandatory to finish the game and can't be successfully acomplished without fighting, many other inklings can be activated in a specific order allowing to finish the game without the Castle Amana's inkling being properly done, which makes this category a lot more interesting. In fact, all other categories are played with usual weapons in order to get fast kills, but speedrunning without raising your weapon once takes more time and forces you to use alternative routes, which is slower compared to main categories. It takes a few different steps compared to the ''Any%'' route, and this different route will make you avoid both Ouka and Fujimori Clan fights. The fastest way to run Pacifist% is by playing on Instant Kill, because at some point you will need to wait until Fujimori forces take you and Yuma down, and it takes a lot of time in other difficulties, but less than 30 seconds on Instant Kill. Anyway, no more chit chat, let's go straight to the point:

**PACIFIST ROUTE**

**1.** After starting the run, [SKIP CUTSCENE x2] and choose either the first or the second dialogue to be warped to Takatane Village [SKIP CUTSCENE x2].
**2.** Get out from Osei's House, [SKIP CUTSCENE].
**3.** Make your way down the village and go talk to Kota [SKIP CUTSCENE] choose ''Calm Down, Kid'' dialogue [SKIP CUTSCENE x2].
**4.** Open the Menu > Map > World Map and warp to Omiki Town.
**5.** Run towards the bridge to trigger the inkling [SKIP CUTSCENE].
**6.** Open the menu and Warp to Road [SKIP CUTSCENE].
**7.** Approach the merchant area [SKIP CUTSCENE] and select ''Stealing is bad, you know'' dialogue [SKIP CUTSCENE x2].
**8.** Talk to Yuma and choose ''I have a grudge against Fujimori Clan'' dialogue (this will skip Castle Minori's fight).
**9.** Open the Map and warp to Castle Amana.
**10.** Go to the gate, talk to the guard in front of it and choose ''Yes!, I have skills to prove'' [SKIP CUTSCENE].
**11.** As soon as the tournament start, bow down (Hold L2 on PS3 or LT on X360) and wait until the cutscene starts [SKIP CUTSCENE].
**12.** After the tournament, warp to Castle Minori.
**13.** Talk to the guard at the gate and choose ''I was approached by one of your guys'' dialogue [SKIP CUTSCENE x2].
**14.** Warp to Kuchihagahara.
**15.** Go to Shinnosuke's House [SKIP CUTSCENE].
**16.** Warp to Takatane Village.
**17.** Head upstairs to Osei's House and approach Munechika [SKIP CUTSCENE] choose ''Are you harassing me?!'' dialogue.
**18.** Go home, select 'Sleep' option, then select 'Time' and sleep the necessary amount of time to wake up between 2:00AM and 3:00AM (if you got an ideal timing and didn't messed up until this point, then 11 hours should be the right one).
**19.** Warp to Castle Minori [SKIP CUTSCENE x4].
**20.** Warp to Kuchihagahara. 
**21.** Talk to Shinnosuke and choose either the first or the second dialogue. 
**22.** Warp to Castle Minori.
**23.** Go talk to Yuma [SKIP CUTSCENE].
**24.** Warp to Road.
**25.** Go to the temple entrance [SKIP CUTSCENE].
**26.** Warp to Castle Minori.
**27.** Run to the Main Building and run upstairs [SKIP CUTSCENE].
**28.** Choose ''Got it, brother!'' dialogue [SKIP CUTSCENE].
**29.** Warp to Kuchihagahara [NOBUNAGA EVENT] [SKIP CUTSCENE].
**30.** Warp to Takatane Village.
**31.** Go to Osei's House [SKIP CUTSCENE] (you have to take this aditional inkling, otherwise, if you go straight to Castle Minori, the cutscene will be triggered with Genjuro instead of Yuma).
**32.** Warp to Castle Minori [SKIP CUTSCENE].
**33.** Go to the main building avoiding Fujimori forces, [SKIP CUTSCENE].
**34.** Choose ''Make your last moment honorable'' dialogue [SKIP CUTSCENE].
**35.** Wait inside until Fujimori forces kill Yuma, then go outside and let them kill you [SKIP CUTSCENE].
**36.** Warp to Takatane Village [SKIP CUTSCENE x4].
**37.** Warp to Kuchihagahara [SKIP CUTSCENE x4].

[~THE END~]

NOTE: I'm still improving the game and searching for glitches and inkling skips, and i believe that i finally got the 2nd sleep time skip, anyway, everything that i get will be posted in 'Guides' section or in my Youtube Channel, plus, i'm pretending to improve the entire WotS game series, not only WotS3.

Name	Author
Any% Guide (January 2022)	Kromer 3 years ago
Any% Tutorial	Kromer 7 years ago
How to do the 2nd Sleep Time Skip	Kromer 8 years ago
Pacifist% Tutorial	Kromer 3 years ago