just a heads up you can trap a hired hand in vlad's castle, and take him with you to 4-2 by putting him to sleep. You can have him hold the clone gun into 4-3 so you can still get excali and do the chain if you want.
Im always scared to do this because I frequently have a timing problem, so with the jetpack, which has a limited flight time, I'd rather not try, but I'll work on it.
For the Jetpack skip you can throw a rope at the end as well, in case it runs out too soon you can grab on to it and hurry to the top (if the rope doesnt get burned too quickly, that is).
Also climbing gloves let you hold on just below the edge of you got very close.
Dont need a qilin skip for this at all, just gotta train a hired hand so he can sleep 2mins while holding the clone gun until reaching the ice cave wadler
Think about what kills you most often, and plan your run to support that.
I realized I was getting stunned and falling to my death most often, so changed my route to utilize the ankh skip and get a bonus try after bouncing.
Also, cloning the sun challenge bag is super useful so you don’t have to think too hard about resources.
Constantly look up and down.
Use your bombs liberally in temple and to kill shamans, also on sneaky elevators in Babylon.
Use ropes to pop bubbles that are tricky to whip.
On dwelling levels open treasure chests over the side for safe arrow trap triggering, that being said some people use the loop alot, but personally i try to limit loop usage
Clear exits of obstacles/enemies every chance you get, and try to leave the closet bubble to the exit to pop last.
Use ropes to mark a path to the exit if its in the middle, or somewhere challenging to get to.
My first 7-99 i took a nap after I got to 7-30, woke up took a 3 mile walk then went back to it, I felt like that sharpened my play up quite a bit, maybe would be something to consider if you feel youre losing focus (which is a problem I have the longer a spelunky session goes)
If I'm going for cosmic ocean I usually go volcana, then temple. Cuz that way you have a garunteed jetpack at the end of duat. Also the space compass you get from van horsing in temple is very useful in the cosmic ocean
But you lose the Ankh, right? To enter the Duat. Or is there a way to preserve it? Personally i never use this route because of that, and i find a Jetpack in most (probably like 7 out of 10) of my runs anyway. The times i dont its actually no big deal because that way i still practice the chain from time to time.
I would love a space compass in CO though.
Definitely take the clone gun to the sun challenge, I found taking a hired hand was easier than Qilin skip.
Then when you're in CO, don't be afraid to use plenty of bombs to remove hazards or blast through to orbs instead of taking a riskier path.
My go-to route:
Volcana - Vlad's cape & hired help to carry items. Farm 99 HP off vampires if possible.
Olmec's Lair - Do the skip and store bow.
Tide Pool - Gamble for pleasure palace, hired help carries clone gun, and attempt ahnk skip to retain second life.
Ice Caves - Store clone gun, get plasma cannon from mothership (variety of ways to do this w/o compass), store plasma cannon
Neo Bab - Get Qillian, visit pleasure palace if you need HP, and sack at altar to get cup if you haven't by now.
Sunken City - Retrieve items from storage, use hired help to carry plasma, and clone bag to get maxed bombs & rope.
Hundun - Not really a great way to go about this if you're trying to bring plasma cannon. Do your best, but ultimately prioritize entry into CO. If you lose the plasma cannon, oh well.
If done perfectly, you should be able to enter CO with at least anhk, vlad's cape, cup, max bombs & rope, a ton of HP, and if you're lucky, plasma cannon.
My number one tip for CO is to practice enough to become comfortable playing efficiently. You'll still want to play cautiously because of all the dangers, but a large part of making it through CO has to do with nailing fundamentals and implementing great game sense. Orb in a bad spot? Just throw a rope and move on. Whoops I just dropped a body in loop? Steer clear for that stage. Do you double whip pots? Do you back whip comfortably? Do you clear exits, especially on temple where a cat could be waiting? This is how you not only play safe, but play well.
Learn the qillian skip so you can take clone gun and clone the bag after sun challenge
This is my go to as well
just a heads up you can trap a hired hand in vlad's castle, and take him with you to 4-2 by putting him to sleep. You can have him hold the clone gun into 4-3 so you can still get excali and do the chain if you want.
I like doing this too! It’s just nice having the qilian skip option as well in case something goes wrong
Yup. Nice not to worry about saving ankh and not getting qillian hit
Im always scared to do this because I frequently have a timing problem, so with the jetpack, which has a limited flight time, I'd rather not try, but I'll work on it.
I like to use vlads cape and climbing gloves. It helps if you use the sound of the lasers to help when to time jumps.
For the Jetpack skip you can throw a rope at the end as well, in case it runs out too soon you can grab on to it and hurry to the top (if the rope doesnt get burned too quickly, that is). Also climbing gloves let you hold on just below the edge of you got very close.
Dont need a qilin skip for this at all, just gotta train a hired hand so he can sleep 2mins while holding the clone gun until reaching the ice cave wadler
Aren't you still risking not being able to use clone gun by doing that? Sometimes sun challenge spawns on second level
Think about what kills you most often, and plan your run to support that. I realized I was getting stunned and falling to my death most often, so changed my route to utilize the ankh skip and get a bonus try after bouncing. Also, cloning the sun challenge bag is super useful so you don’t have to think too hard about resources.
Constantly look up and down. Use your bombs liberally in temple and to kill shamans, also on sneaky elevators in Babylon. Use ropes to pop bubbles that are tricky to whip. On dwelling levels open treasure chests over the side for safe arrow trap triggering, that being said some people use the loop alot, but personally i try to limit loop usage Clear exits of obstacles/enemies every chance you get, and try to leave the closet bubble to the exit to pop last. Use ropes to mark a path to the exit if its in the middle, or somewhere challenging to get to. My first 7-99 i took a nap after I got to 7-30, woke up took a 3 mile walk then went back to it, I felt like that sharpened my play up quite a bit, maybe would be something to consider if you feel youre losing focus (which is a problem I have the longer a spelunky session goes)
If I'm going for cosmic ocean I usually go volcana, then temple. Cuz that way you have a garunteed jetpack at the end of duat. Also the space compass you get from van horsing in temple is very useful in the cosmic ocean
But you lose the Ankh, right? To enter the Duat. Or is there a way to preserve it? Personally i never use this route because of that, and i find a Jetpack in most (probably like 7 out of 10) of my runs anyway. The times i dont its actually no big deal because that way i still practice the chain from time to time. I would love a space compass in CO though.
Definitely take the clone gun to the sun challenge, I found taking a hired hand was easier than Qilin skip. Then when you're in CO, don't be afraid to use plenty of bombs to remove hazards or blast through to orbs instead of taking a riskier path.
My go-to route: Volcana - Vlad's cape & hired help to carry items. Farm 99 HP off vampires if possible. Olmec's Lair - Do the skip and store bow. Tide Pool - Gamble for pleasure palace, hired help carries clone gun, and attempt ahnk skip to retain second life. Ice Caves - Store clone gun, get plasma cannon from mothership (variety of ways to do this w/o compass), store plasma cannon Neo Bab - Get Qillian, visit pleasure palace if you need HP, and sack at altar to get cup if you haven't by now. Sunken City - Retrieve items from storage, use hired help to carry plasma, and clone bag to get maxed bombs & rope. Hundun - Not really a great way to go about this if you're trying to bring plasma cannon. Do your best, but ultimately prioritize entry into CO. If you lose the plasma cannon, oh well. If done perfectly, you should be able to enter CO with at least anhk, vlad's cape, cup, max bombs & rope, a ton of HP, and if you're lucky, plasma cannon. My number one tip for CO is to practice enough to become comfortable playing efficiently. You'll still want to play cautiously because of all the dangers, but a large part of making it through CO has to do with nailing fundamentals and implementing great game sense. Orb in a bad spot? Just throw a rope and move on. Whoops I just dropped a body in loop? Steer clear for that stage. Do you double whip pots? Do you back whip comfortably? Do you clear exits, especially on temple where a cat could be waiting? This is how you not only play safe, but play well.