Full Easy Video Tutorial

https://youtu.be/e7kkywZsqZk

Check Youtube Description for routing updates and notes

Normal Difficulty Notes

#Intro

It is recommended to watch the Easy speedrun tutorial first, as these notes will cover the differences between the categories.

While there are significant routing improvements that I've made, feel free to experiment and try different approaches for fights. Some areas could see refinement in approach (global program/Triple Cyclops/Mountain/Hub). My goal is to have the most consistent strategies that are still relatively fast.

Major Changes from Easy:
Increased range of enemy encounters, changes routing when avoiding fights
Jehuty takes more damage
Bosses have greater HP/Jehuty deals less damage
Enemies provide less experience
Enemies typically are higher level, meaning AI can change and battle routing changes
Game Over doesn’t provide extra ammo for all subweapons

#Factory.1
Everything except the end of the level plays out the same. After destroying the passcode group, fly directly towards the Global program. Angle the camera down. After the encounter begins, stop dashing and slowly float towards the program. Unknown why sometimes the raptor flies and sometimes it floats and throws javelins. If the raptor flies into view, change camera angle away.

#Tempest
Angle yourself to float slowly backwards, 5 o’clock on your analog stick. You want tempest to destroy a particular building when you return. After 3 successful burst shots in phase 2, block near the tip of Tempest. The knockback is part of the setup. When Tempest shoots in the air, dash backwards twice then gain max height. Charge a burst shot, wait for Tempest to land, wait a beat, and then throw the shot. If you whiff one of the 3 shots, fire a burst just as he shoots in the air to land another shot.

#antilia Factory.1
Timing for the password is very particular. Burst shot the lead raptor, wait for the shot to land, then dash shot forward. Dash backwards for a second, then dash shot the 2nd raptor. Do the same for the 3rd. Then fly towards the program. If you mess up, make sure to fly wide to avoid encountering the group near the program.

#City.1 to Town.2 Sniper
This plays the same as Easy, but instead of playing stealthily fly directly into the mummies after the final porter. Angle the camera away and block to avoid taking damage. Slowly fly towards the Sniper to avoid the Raptor encounter.

#Triple Cyclops EPS.2
A very annoying fight compared to Easy, there may be a better strategy than one here. Press L2/LT to initiate the encounter early. Block on approach, and then burst spin. It is recommended to block after every burst spin due to the possibility of getting ganged up on.

#Triple Mummy Town.1
If you took a lot of damage and want to be safe, take the Metatron by the church. Fly high over the building, going towards the right of the triple mummy group. Position Jehuty at the top right corner of the building Tempest destroyed, burst shotting the mummy back and to the left. Perform the burst shot AI manipulation. If they begin clumping together, fly right and backwards to reorient Jehuty’s position in the park.

#EPS.1
Raptor 1 | Burst shot into Dash stab
Mummy 1 | Slash interrupt, Burst slash, Slash Interrupt, Burst slash
Cyclops 1 | Burst slash x2
Cyclops 2 | Burst slash into dash stab
Mummy 2 | Slash interrupt, Burst slash x 3
Raptor 2 | Fly centered into room, burst shot into standard shot into full slash combo, can also burst shot into flying to raptor’s left to burst slash (faster but riskier)

#Raptor Town.2/EPS.2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPNM1CSdj0Mhttps://youtu.be/JPNM1CSdj0M


Raptor 1 | Slash interrupt, Burst Slash
Cyclops 1 |Burst Slash x 2 (Burst Slash into Dash Slash works, but this Cyclops seems to block often)
Mummy 1 |Slash interrupt, Burst slash x2
Cyclops 2 | Burst Slash x2

#detector EPS.2
For stealth raptor, burst shot into standard shot into slash interrupt into burst slash

#Virus/Sniping Factory.2
Sniping is no different from Easy, but unless you pick up the safety sniper ammo after Raptor sequence you have little margin of error (maximum 1 shot). Due to the wider range of encounters, you will have to exit an encounter as you turn around to pick up the Decoy ammo after gaining the vaccine.

#City.2
Go directly right to the pillars, ending at the final row just above the gray/black stripe. Burst shot the raptor on the right side. Fly forward and throw the level 4 raptor into the structure on the left into a dash stab.  Assuming the burst shot landed on the level 6 raptor, perform a triple slash into a burst slash.

#Town.3
Fly to the left, ending up slightly below the building roof near the traffic light. Burst shot the invisible raptor on the left. Avoid fighting near the traffic light as the other squad can join. Either fight the Cyclops past the traffic light or to the left. Blocking can bait the Cyclops into an easy grab after a burst attack or dash attack, if it doesn’t grab you. A throw into a building followed by a burst slash will take out the Cyclops, or performing burst slashes instead after blocking followed by a dash stab (3 standard slashes into burst slash into 4 standard slashes is an alternative)

If a repair occurs, position Jehuty at the spawn point and prepare for a burst slash. If not, go for the mummy.
Mummy 1 |Standard slash, burst slash x2
Raptor 2 | Throw into building, dash stab OR 3 standard slashes into burst slash OR burst slash into dash stab
Cyclops 2 |Burs slash x2 OR throw into building, dash stab

#decoy Factory.2
If you took a lot of damage and need the heal, take the Metatron directly in front of you. Raptor guarding Decoy, 3 standard slashes into burst slash, 4 standard slashes

#Tyrant
Fly to the nearest building on Tyrant’s left to throw a fast burst charge before the autoaim changes. Burst shot just before the third laser fires (this isn’t necessary for Normal, but good practice for Very Hard). You do not need to Decoy for the first laser, but it is recommended due to the risk in Mountain and the time loss from picking up Metatron at the start of Mountain. Maintain distance from Tyrant’s face to avoid getting grabbed.

In Phase 2,  ideally you will perform one dash shot after taking the second charge from Tyrant. Assuming you positioned well and landing both burst shots on the left side, the most you will need to do in addition is a standard shot.

#Mountain.1
Group 1 | Fly directly into the group, dash shot to interrupt.
Mummy |Burst slash x2 OR 2 standard slashes, burst slash, dash stab OR throw into wall into dash stab
Cyclops | Burst slash, dash stab
Raptor | Slash interrupt, burst slash
Group 2 | [DECOY] You need 4 total slashes and 2 burst slashes on the Mummy
Group 3 | [DECOY] Only difference between this and easy is a level  3 raptor requiring a 2 standard slashes into a burst slash
Group 4 |[DECOY] After throwing the level 6 raptor into the wall, either burst slash (risky) or perform 4 standard slashes. Rather than decoying for the level 5, standard shot into 3 standard slashes into burst slash, finish with a dash stab or 4 standard slashes
Group 5 | [DECOY] After throwing the level 6 raptor into the wall, either burst slash (risky) or perform 4 standard slashes.

#Nebula
This fight plays out the same as on Easy, but Phase 1 is longer. If you take too many hits or miss burst shot, Nebula will fly away, forcing a backup involving burst shots. Practice avoiding the homing shots by flying back and forth or circling.

Phase 2 is longer but doesn’t require another cycle from Nebula.

#Hub.1
As you cannot snipe the bombs, pacing of fights changes. Always prioritize getting to the bombs as soon as possible, unless it is the final bomb. There is no need to decoy to avoid enemies attacking you while clearing a bomb as long as you move quickly. Use your decoys for fighting.

Cyclops Duo | [DECOY] Fly forward, decoy into burst slashes. Allow the duo to fly close before burst slashing. If one is still alive, finish with dash stabs. Fly backwards to defuse bomb 1.

Mummy Duo | [DECOY] Decoy to distract the mummies, fly behind and burst slash, dash stab to knock one of the mummies back towards the starting wall. After destroying one of the mummies, fly  to the 2nd brown panel, bottom right corner to defuse bomb 2.

Raptor Duo | [DECOY] Decoy to distract the raptors, 3 standard slashes into burst slash one of the raptors. Assuming you are speedy, a dash stab into the back will destroy raptor 1. Depending on which raptor you destroyed, adjust strategy accordingly based on level. Fly to the opposite wall after defeating both raptors.

Mixed Trio | Take out the raptor with a slash interrupt burst slash. Clean up the Mummy left behind from group 2, either with  standard slash into burst slash twice (level 5) or 2 standard slashes into burst slash twice (level 6). Destroy the level 2 mummy with 2 burst slashes. Fly towards the level 2 cyclops, finishing with 2 burst slashes.

Level 7 Cyclops | [DECOY] Fly forward to burst slash twice, followed by a dash stab. Defuse the final bomb.

Very Hard Notes (WIP)

#Intro

It is recommended to watch the Easy speedrun tutorial first, as these notes will cover the differences between the categories. I do not recommend running Very Hard without learning Easy or Normal first.

Due to the higher level enemies, there is an increased possibility of bad luck and improvisational situations. The margin for error in Very Hard is rather low, particularly if one doesn't take safer approaches throughout the run.

While there are significant routing improvements that I've made, feel free to experiment and try different approaches for fights. Some areas could see refinement in approach (Triple Cyclops/Triple Mummy/Mountain/Hub). My goal is to have the most consistent strategies that are still relatively fast. 

Major Changes from Easy:
Increased range of enemy encounters, changes routing when avoiding fights
Game Over doesn’t provide extra ammo for all subweapons

Major Changes from Normal:
No repairs drop
Jehuty takes the most damage (e.g. a burst slash from a Raptor or Viola will reduce HP by 75%)
Bosses have the greatest HP/Jehuty deals the least damage (boss strategies are the most complicated)
Enemies provide the least experience
Enemy level scaling is the greatest
No enemies are level one, except for Commander groups after the Commander is destroyed



#Factory.1
All raptors require a double slash into a burst slash, a burst slash into a dash slash, or a burst shot due to level 2.  Everything except the end of the level plays out the same. After destroying the passcode group, fly directly towards the Global program. Angle the camera down. After the encounter begins, stop dashing and slowly float towards the program. Unknown why sometimes the raptor flies and sometimes it floats and throws javelins. If the raptor flies into view, change camera angle away.

#Tempest 
Angle yourself to float slowly backwards, 5 o’clock on your analog stick. You want tempest to destroy a particular building when you return. After 3 successful burst shots in phase 2, block near the tip of Tempest. The knockback is part of the setup. Go to maximum height. Charge a burst shot and release when Tempest shoots in the air. Float backwards for a second to avoid the drop attack. Charge a burst shot, wait for Tempest to land, wait a beat, and then throw the shot. Continue to chain together burst shots until Tempest dies.

MARATHON STRATEGY: Grab the metatron at the church to maximize your HP going into EPS.2.

#antilia Factory.1   
Timing for the password is very particular. Burst shot the lead raptor, wait for the shot to land, then dash shot forward. Dash backwards for a second, then dash shot the 2nd raptor. Do the same for the 3rd. Then fly towards the program. If you mess up, make sure to fly wide to avoid encountering the group near the program.

#City.1 to Town.2 Sniper 
This plays the same as Easy, but instead of playing stealthily fly directly into the Mummies after the final porter. Angle the camera away and block to avoid taking damage. Slowly fly towards the Sniper to avoid the Raptor encounter. Wait until the Raptor squad is down the hill to open the Sniper.

#Triple Cyclops EPS.2  
This is one of the worst fights in the whole run. Below is the safest approach I've found. Fly to the cliff edge near the Cyclops squad. Lead a burst shot on the leader of the group (Lv. 5). Attempt to kill the leader with another burst shot.  Be aware that a Lv. 5 cyclops will either grab or burst attack if you block.

Stay in the green (long) range against a Cyclops. This forces them to dash attack or combo the air. If you stay in red (short) range, be ready to quickly dash or burst attack if they grab you.

IF YOU DIE - you do not need to go back to the tunnel, flip 180 degrees and retry the fight.

#Triple Mummy Town.1 
Another difficult encounter!  If you took a lot of damage and want to be safe, take the Metatron by the church. 

Fly high over the building, going towards the right of the triple Mummy squad. Position Jehuty at the top right corner of the building Tempest destroyed, burst shotting the mummy back and to the left. Perform the burst shot AI manipulation.These Mummies can do the homing shot, be mindful of that. If they begin clumping together, fly right and backwards to reorient Jehuty’s position in the park. You can use your standard shot to delay an attack from a Mummy.  When a Mummy goes red, finish with a dash stab or a string of standard shots. 

#EPS.1 
Raptor 1 | Burst shot into Dash stab 
Mummy 1 | Slash interrupt, Burst slash, Slash Interrupt, Burst slash 
Cyclops 1 | Burst slash x2
Cyclops 2 | Burst slash into dash stab 
Mummy 2 | Slash interrupt, Burst slash x 3
Raptor 2 | Fly centered into room, burst shot into standard shot into full slash combo, can also burst shot into flying to raptor’s left to burst slash (faster but riskier)

#Raptor Town.2/EPS.2  
Dash fly up until Jehuty is over the bush near the traffic light, stop dashing and fly around towards the downed raptor. Make sure not to take the most direct path towards the Raptor, or an encounter will occur. Slightly delay if you want to make sure you do not encounter the group going up the hill. Hold descent (A or X) and then dash to dive bomb into the Raptor. Typically ADA’s dialog will occur but not always.

Raptor 1 | Slash interrupt, Burst Slash
Cyclops 1 |Burst Slash x 2 (Burst Slash into Dash Slash works, but this Cyclops seems to block often)
Mummy 1 |Slash interrupt, Burst slash x2
Cyclops 2 | Burst Slash x2

#detector EPS.2  
For stealth raptor, burst shot into standard shot into slash interrupt into burst slash

#Virus/Sniping Factory.2 
Sniping is no different from Easy, but unless you pick up the safety sniper ammo after Raptor sequence you have little margin of error (maximum 1 shot). Due to the wider range of encounters, you will have to exit an encounter as you turn around to pick up the Decoy ammo after gaining the vaccine.

#EPS.1 Return (OPTIONAL)
The ? indicator means the Mummy subweapon exists on this map. A package of Mummy provides 20 ammo. The Mummy acts as a healing shield. Assuming you are at 25% HP, a max heal takes 4 ammo. Healing with Mummy is faster than taking a deep death on some of the upcoming segments. Just make sure to hold the subweapon button, as each initiation of Mummy loses 1 ammo. Try to heal when you are required to wait around, like after defeating a squad.

Fly directly forward and stop directly left of the Mummy pick up. If positioned perfectly, you will not encounter the Raptor above. If the encounter occurs, escape!

https://youtu.be/WR6ux6Hghps - Example



#City.2 
Go directly right to the pillars, ending at the final row just above the gray/black stripe. Burst shot the raptor on the right side. Fly forward and throw the level 4 raptor into the structure on the left into a dash stab.  Assuming the burst shot landed on the level 6 raptor, perform a triple slash into a burst slash.

IF YOU TAKE DAMAGE AND NEED A HEAL BEFORE TOWN.3 - Fly above to the bridge, and let the squad fly away so you can pick up the Metatron. Obviously, use the Mummy if you picked it up previously instead.

#Town.3 
Fly to the left, ending up slightly below the building roof near the traffic light. Burst shot the invisible raptor on the left. Avoid fighting near the traffic light as the other squad can join. Either fight the Cyclops past the traffic light or to the left. Blocking can bait the Cyclops into an easy grab after a burst attack or dash attack, if it doesn’t grab you. A throw into a building followed by a burst slash will take out the Cyclops, or performing burst slashes instead after blocking followed by a dash stab (3 standard slashes into burst slash into 4 standard slashes is an alternative)

If a repair occurs, position Jehuty at the spawn point and prepare for a burst slash. If not, go for the mummy. 
Mummy 1 |Standard slash, burst slash x2
Raptor 2 | Throw into building, dash stab OR 3 standard slashes into burst slash OR burst slash into dash stab
Cyclops 2 |Burs slash x2 OR throw into building, dash stab

#decoy Factory.2
 If you took a lot of damage and need the heal, take the Metatron directly in front of you. Raptor guarding Decoy, 3 standard slashes into burst slash, 4 standard slashes

#Tyrant 
Fly to the nearest building on Tyrant’s left to throw a fast burst charge before the autoaim changes. Burst shot just before the third laser fires (this isn’t necessary for Normal, but good practice for Very Hard). You do not need to Decoy for the first laser, but it is recommended due to the risk in Mountain and the time loss from picking up Metatron at the start of Mountain. Maintain distance from Tyrant’s face to avoid getting grabbed.

In Phase 2,  ideally you will perform one dash shot after taking the second charge from Tyrant. Assuming you positioned well and landing both burst shots on the left side, the most you will need to do in addition is a standard shot.

#Park.1 Return (OPTIONAL)
Immediately re-enter the arena you fought Tyrant on the world map. In the middle of the park is an ammo package of Mummy. If you picked up the previous one in EPS.1, you have 40 total.

#Mountain.1 
Unless you have Mummy, dash forward to pick up the Metatron. Technically you do not need this, but the risk of death is too high.

Group 1 | Fly directly into the group, dash shot to interrupt.
Mummy |Burst slash x2 OR 2 standard slashes, burst slash, dash stab OR throw into wall into dash stab
Cyclops | Burst slash, dash stab
Raptor | Slash interrupt, burst slash
Group 2 | [DECOY] You need 4 total slashes and 2 burst slashes on the Mummy
Group 3 | [DECOY] Only difference between this and easy is a level  3 raptor requiring a 2 standard slashes into a burst slash
Group 4 |[DECOY] After throwing the level 6 raptor into the wall, either burst slash (risky) or perform 4 standard slashes. Rather than decoying for the level 5, standard shot into 3 standard slashes into burst slash, finish with a dash stab or 4 standard slashes
Group 5 | [DECOY] After throwing the level 6 raptor into the wall, either burst slash (risky) or perform 4 standard slashes.

#Nebula 
This fight plays out the same as on Easy, but Phase 1 is longer. If you take too many hits or miss burst shot, Nebula will fly away, forcing a backup involving burst shots. Practice avoiding the homing shots by flying back and forth or circling. 

Phase 2 is longer but doesn’t require another cycle from Nebula.

#Hub.1 
As you cannot snipe the bombs, pacing of fights changes. Always prioritize getting to the bombs as soon as possible, unless it is the final bomb. There is no need to decoy to avoid enemies attacking you while clearing a bomb as long as you move quickly. Use your decoys for fighting.

Cyclops Duo | [DECOY] Fly forward, decoy into burst slashes. Allow the duo to fly close before burst slashing. If one is still alive, finish with dash stabs. Fly backwards to defuse bomb 1.

Mummy Duo | [DECOY] Decoy to distract the mummies, fly behind and burst slash, dash stab to knock one of the mummies back towards the starting wall. After destroying one of the mummies, fly  to the 2nd brown panel, bottom right corner to defuse bomb 2.

Raptor Duo | [DECOY] Decoy to distract the raptors, 3 standard slashes into burst slash one of the raptors. Assuming you are speedy, a dash stab into the back will destroy raptor 1. Depending on which raptor you destroyed, adjust strategy accordingly based on level. Fly to the opposite wall after defeating both raptors.

Mixed Trio | Take out the raptor with a slash interrupt burst slash. Clean up the Mummy left behind from group 2, either with  standard slash into burst slash twice (level 5) or 2 standard slashes into burst slash twice (level 6). Destroy the level 2 mummy with 2 burst slashes. Fly towards the level 2 cyclops, finishing with 2 burst slashes.

Level 7 Cyclops | [DECOY] Fly forward to burst slash twice, followed by a dash stab. Defuse the final bomb.

ZOE Route/Guide

This guide's going to cover the route itself as well as strats for all three categories of the game (Easy/Normal/Very Hard). Different strategies for Normal and Very Hard will be written as deviations from the Easy strats, and all levels mentioned are for Easy. Expect the numbers to be higher on higher difficulties.

# Factory 1
Spin slash the enemy here. Once you're outside, spin slash the two raptors. Slash the mummyheads three times, then spin slash, then stab. That combo will kill them on easy but on higher difficulties they'll take a bit more so do some more regular slashes before the spin. Viola 1 will show up now. Let her approach you, then grab her and throw her into the floor. Follow that up with a stab. If your angle is close enough to perpendicular with the floor, this is enough damage to kill her.

Grab the item in the center of the room. Turn around and fire a charge shot at the two Lv1 enemies that were behind you without locking on. Ideally you hit the raptor and that kills him, then fire a second one at the mummyhead (which you are locked onto now) and finish him off with homing lasers. Chances are this won't work and you'll have to fly up to the group and finish them off after this with whatever works. Head left and grab the item in the ditch below the group of enemies (you may have to go around a little bit on higher difficulties to avoid the encounter).

# Town 1 (Tempest)
Get close to Tempest to bait out his close range fire attack, but stay far enough away that it doesn't hit you. Spam small shots for the first half of his HP bar. Hold up (Triangle/Y) so that you don't fall too low to hit him.

For his second half, get up right in front of his face as high as you can and hit him with charge shots. Three shots is enough to kill on easy, but on normal you'll need a fourth shot (he will fly up into the air then drop down) and on Very Hard it will take a third cycle.

# Factory 1
Turn to the corner behind you and to the right. Fire a charge shot at the Lv2 group back there. You are aiming for the guy in front, who is the leader. Afterwards, use homing lasers and regular small shots to kill the rest of the group from a distance. The leader will need another hit from something to kill on higher difficulties. Go the corner opposite the one the enemies were in and grab the item in the ditch.

# City 1 (Pillar)
Just come here and leave.

# Town 2
Destroy the porters in the order shown in [this screenshot](https://i.imgur.com/Px4uUmt.png) You can fire homing lasers at them as you're approaching to try to get extra hits in and speed things up, or just fly to them and use small shots. Regardless, lock on doesn't work here so good luck. You'll get an encounter with Lv2 raptors at around the fourth pillar, just don't lock onto them and hope they go away. Once all the porters are gone, the sniper will appear in a box at the yellow circle on the image. On easy, if you move fast enough you can grab the sniper without starting an encounter with the Lv1 mummyheads. This is unavoidable on higher difficulties.

# City 1
Shoot the targets on the pillar. On PS3/x360, you can shoot through the pillar to hit targets on the other side. On PS2, you have to wait for them to spin around to where you can see them. You should have 12 ammo left if you don't miss any shots.

# EPS2
The entrance to the tunnel is in the back right corner of the room. Go in there, run up to the wall you can't get through, and then exit. Outside the tunnel, turn around and head for the Lv3s Passcode guys in the distance. Hit the guy in front with a charge shot from a distance, then finish them off with spin slashes. Try not to get ganged up on (this is a big problem on Very Hard). If you can kill the front guy (he's the highest level) with a second charge shot before the group reaches you, that's perfect.

# Town 1
Grab the metatron in the blue box in front of you to the left if you got owned by the last group of enemies. Head for the back of this area, your target is the stationary group of three Lv3s passcode mummyheads. When you get close, try hitting the bottom one with an untargeted charge shot (do not bother on Normal/VH). These guys will kill you if you don't split them up, so force them apart by spamming homing lasers and stabs. Once a mummyhead is far enough away from the other two that they can't hit you, feel free to kill it however you want.

# EPS1
The entrance to the tunnel is in the back right corner of the area. Go through the tunnel to the generator, spin slashing all the enemies. The second enemy (a mummyhead) can be grabbed, thrown, and stabbed for on Easy. Destroy the generator by hitting the glowing blue face of it (but not the center) with homing lasers, then leave. On your way out, go down the left path you ignored earlier to get the item. Grab+Stab the last enemy on the way out on Easy.

# Town 2
Fly to the two broken robots on the ground, in the same place where you got the sniper earlier. On Easy, you can slip between two groups of enemies to get the raptor without starting an encounter ([this pic](https://i.imgur.com/8dSZBzc.png) shows about where you want to fly). On higher difficulties, don't bother trying this and just hope the enemies let you run away quickly.

# EPS2
Head into the tunnel. The raptor's stationary charge slash is your most powerful attack, but a basic melee combo and stabs are also very effective. Instead of going straight towards the generator, go down the path you see to the right and grab the item  down there first. You can destroy the generator with a single charge shot.

Leave Town 2 as Jehuty, go to EPS2, kill the raptor in the tunnel, and then leave the area. Fly towards Mountain 1 and leave the area you appear in when you get shot down.

# Factory 2
Go inside the factory and kill the Lv1 however you want. Do not underestimate him on VH. Grab the item on the left.

# City 2
Your target is the two Lv5s enemies to your right. You can try to fire a charge shot at them before locking on, but spin slashes will work fine.

# Town 3
The enemies with the passcode you need will not spawn until you kill the invisible Lv4 group to your left ([circled here](https://i.imgur.com/2F9bMpW.png), see from where you enter the area). You can try to kill the weak raptor in this group with a charge shot. Once they're dead, an invisible Lv2 Passcode group with appear right by where you probably started the Lv4 fight. If you know where they spawn, you can time a spin slash to hit them all right as they appear.

# Factory 2
Grab the metatron right in front of you if you aren't at full health (ESPECIALLY on higher difficulties, you can ignore it on Easy). Snipe the four porters way off in the distance on your left (they are the green dots, get a little closer and let the auto-aim help you out). Then turn around, shoot the two in the corner, the four floating above the warehouses, and the two far ones on the right. Be careful where you're standing when shooting those last six porters on higher difficulties, or you'll get your target stolen by an encounter when you're trying to aim. You should have 1 sniper ammo left, if you haven't missed any shots so far this run. Go back into the warehouse, kill the guy, and get the item. Leave the warehouse, grab the decoy ammo from the box in the opposite corner to where you entered the area, and leave.

# Park 1 (Tyrant)
Get closer to where you can actually hit him. Place a decoy as soon as he starts targeting you with the big laser, then move aside slightly and hit him in the face with charge shots. On all difficulties, you should have him at half health by the time he's done firing the required two giant laser shots.

As soon as the second half starts, dash into the center of him to cancel his flying around. Tyrant has three attacks, the first one is lasers that you can avoid by standing over his left arm. While you're there, you can hit him in the face with two charge shots and some small shots. This is enough to kill him on Easy. On Normal, let him smash into you again and then finish him off while he fires the missiles. On Very Hard, this fight will go on for a few more cycles, and I don't recommend letting him smash into you more than once. His third attack, which you should only ever see on Very Hard, is some homing stun balls that you can destroy between attacks by just shooting them. The easiest way to dodge his flying around is to change your height while doing it.

# Mountain 1
The blue box right in front of you is metatron, grab it if you need it (you won't get more until the second group). This is a mostly linear area. I recommend looking at a video for the route but all you really need to know is that you turn right after destroying the first wall, and left after destroying the second. Use spin slashes to deal with all the enemies in this area, and on the second and final groups make sure you kill the leader (he has a *) first. The last two groups of enemies in this area are high enough level to use a powerful counter attack that deals a ton of damage, even on easy.

# Nebula
As soon as the fight starts, go up and try to get as many small shots as you can. Once he's done flying around outside, hit him with a charge shot as he flies back into the arena. then get up close and spam small shots. Try to stay outside the rotating cone of lasers, and try to avoid the homing attacks if possible. On Easy and Normal, you can kill him during this cycle, but on Very Hard he will fly away. Hit him with 3-4 charge shots when he comes back (his second cycle is just standing still for some reason), then repeat the small shot strat on the third cycle to finish his first half.

From where you start the second half, move up as high as you can but don't go anywhere. When Nebula drops down in front of you, fire a charge shot at him as he's turning to face you. This should cancel his attack, and automatically change your target to the weak spot on his butt. Fly down there and hit him with 3-4 charge shots. Repeat this until he dies. You can tell you got the cancel because he will scream when you hit him in the head, although sometimes he will still attack after that. On Easy and Normal this takes two cycles if you get all four hits in, on Very Hard it will take four perfect cycles.

As a side note, this fight will lag like hell on PS3 but run fine on PS2 and x360. I estimate that it's about 20 seconds lost to slowdown/lag on easy and even more on Very Hard.

# Viola 2
The best strat to use here is to grab her and throw her against the boxes or the wall. If you angle is close to perpendicular, she will get stunned for a moment and you can regrab her and repeat. This is very difficult, and what most of your practice with the game will go towards. It is important to know which of her attacks can be punished with a grab, and how to properly dodge each of them. I recommend watching [this clip by DaisyFan](https://clips.twitch.tv/ArtsyLachrymoseWheelJebaited) for a good demonstration of how the fight should be done. Getting a Grab+Throw then stabbing her is a good way to get through the first part of her health fast.

# Bomb Defusing
On Easy, you will be destroying the bombs instead of defusing them. This will drop your health to near-zero, so don't try it if you aren't at 80% health or better. The final enemy of each group (except for the third group with the two Lv5s cyclopses) will drop metatron, so what you should do is keep one enemy alive but weakened so that you can kill him as soon as you blow up a bomb for a full heal. Make sure you separate the mummyheads (2nd group) with stabs or they will deal too much damage to you, and you won't be able to blow up the bombs anymore. If you're particularly far from one of the bombs, you can use that last sniper ammo you've got to hit it from a distance, otherwise homing lasers are the projectile you should use.

On Normal and Very Hard, shooting a bomb will kill you instantly, so don't try it. Instead, defuse them like you're supposed to. On Very Hard, you should seriously consider using your three leftover decoys to distract the enemies while you defuse the first three bombs.

# Zombie Neith
Dash up to her, and try to grab her and throw her into the wall behind where she first appears. Once you've got her against the wall, you can repeatedly grab and throw her into the wall for an "easy" kill. Make sure you are very close to her and that she is pressed up against the wall, so that you regrab her as she is trying to get out of the tight spot you've put her in. Otherwise, she can escape.

# Anubis
Just wait a minute and the game ends. You can't die so just do whatever you want. Congrats! You've finished a speedrun of Zone of the Enders.

tapioca

Plywood

Zone of the Enders

Xbox 360

Xbox One

Xbox Series X

Xbox Series S

excel86j

NickRPGreen

SefiroCrescent

EUR / PAL

Easy

Normal

Very Hard

Difficulty

### Hi all,

### 100% Category now exists! You can find the rules below:

```
You must pick up all 10 subweapons: JAVELIN, GEYSER, BOUNDER, PHALANX, HALBERD, COMET, GAUNTLET, SNIPER, DECOY and MUMMY.
```

```
You must complete all 5 SOS missions: TOWN.1, TOWN.2, TOWN.3, CITY.2 and CITY.1.
```

```
R

Name	Author
Full Easy Video Tutorial	Plywood 1 year ago
Normal Difficulty Notes	Plywood 1 year ago
Very Hard Notes (WIP)	Plywood 1 year ago
ZOE Route/Guide	tapioca 5 years ago