Earthbound/Glitchless route

Completed Runs

Runner	Time	Link	Notes
__sdfg	4:15:17	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZFHVSSTmEQ	Subtracted 1:08 to start timing at gaining control of Ness.
Andyperfect	4:18:06	http://www.twitch.tv/andyperfect/c/3253096	Subtracted 1:08 to start timing at gaining control of Ness.
Pop_em	4:45:xx
0xwas	4:53:28	http://www.twitch.tv/0xwas/c/1912459	Subtracted 1:09 to start timing at gaining control of Ness; stopped timing at the last prayer against Giygas.
skateman222	4:56:36	http://www.twitch.tv/skateman222/c/1872761	Subtracted 1:09 to start timing at gaining control of Ness; stopped timing at the last prayer against Giygas.

Route

General

• Assume you should avoid all battles unless otherwise noted.
• If an enemy drops an item and you don't know what to do with it, plan on dropping it at some point so it doesn't force you to rearrange your items later. If you keep it, keep in mind that items won't go where they're expected.

Intro

You may choose to use luck manipulation in this split to avoid battles on the way up the hill and ensure a fast Starman Junior fight. If you do so, follow whatever route you use to control the RNG. If you do not use luck manipulation, proceed according to this plan:

1. Choose short character names to minimize the time the game will spend drawing them.
2. Climb the hill, talk to Pokey, and return home. Say, "Yes," when asked if you'd like to go back to sleep.
3. Walk downstairs and open the door. Agree to join Pokey, then talk to your mom to change clothes.
4. Get the Cracked bat from the present in Tracy's room and equip it.
   • The advantage to getting the bat now is that Tracy will not be around to block you in her room or the hallway.
5. Talk to Pokey again to have him join your party. Try to leave the house, then answer the phone.
6. Leave the house. Proceed to the top of the hill.
7. Talk to Picky at the top of the hill. Answer, "Yes," to the questions asked by Pokey and Buzz-buzz.
8. Pick up the Bread roll on the way back down the hill.
9. Use Auto fight through the entire Starman Junior battle.
10. Go into Pokey's house and talk to his dad.
11. Leave the house, getting the Sound stone from Buzz-buzz on the way. Answer, "Yes," to his first question and, "No," to his second.

Frank

1. Get the Mr. Baseball cap from the treehouse west of the library.
2. Pick up the Hamburger from the trash can next to the burger shop.
3. Go into the drugstore.
   1. Withdraw $40 from the ATM.
   2. Talk to the shopkeeper on the right.
      1. Sell the Mr. Baseball cap.
      2. Buy the Tee ball bat and equip it, selling back the Cracked bat in the process.
      3. Buy the Cheap bracelet and equip it.
      4. Buy the Baseball cap and equip it.
4. Walk down to the arcade. Do not fight any Sharks that randomly spawn.
5. Fight the Pogo Punk NPC standing south of the arcade entrance. If you are below 30 HP or so after the fight, heal with the Bread roll.
   • This gets you a guaranteed Hamburger drop and sets up Ness to reach level 5 before Frankystein.
6. Go into the arcade and fight the Pogo Punk who accosts you on the bottom floor.
7. Fight the Yes Man Junior blocking the door.
8. Heal before fighting Frank. Prefer Lifeup — do not use Hamburgers unless you have no choice.
9. Fight Frank. If you take damage, heal. Otherwise, bash.
   • If Ness runs out of PP, consider simply bashing and hoping you survive. If you need to use Hamburgers, you probably aren't having a good fight, and you'll make things harder in later splits since you won't have as many healing items. For casual runs, use up your Hambugers if you need to, and plan to buy more later.
10. Fight Frankystein. It attacks every other turn, starting with the second. The second attack will likely do 15-20 damage; later attacks have a chance of being more like 35-40, depending on the RNG. Bash through the fight and heal as little as possible.
11. After defeating Frankystein, enter the arcade, then immediately go out the back door again and talk to Frank to restore your HP and PP.
    • If Ness has 10+ PP and 40+ HP, you may consider skipping this.

Titanic Ant

1. Go into the city hall and talk to the mayor to get the Key to the shack (agree not to accept any responsibility).
2. Walk up to the entertainer's shack and use the Key to the shack on the door to enter. Proceed into Giant Step.
   • You can avoid the, "The door is locked," text by using the trees south of the shack to line you up with the right side of the door.
3. Fight Attack Slugs until you reach level 8. Avoid fighting Black Antoids and Rowdy Mice as they take longer to fight than Slugs (stutter-stepping can help with this). Use Lifeup to heal as necessary. Avoid using Hamburgers in this part of Giant Step.
   1. TODO: Figure out if there's any one "best" strategy for this part. What's given below is kind of a guess.
   2. Go into the first door you pass, then immediately go back out and look for Attack Slugs just outside (you can go down a few tiles to check). If there are none, go back inside and try again. Repeat this until you have fought at least 12 Attack Slugs. Do not fight the enemies inside the door: they are Black Antoids. Pick up the Skip sandwich in the gift box if there are no Antoids in the way.
   3. Head up the rope to the second floor and then walk over to the rope to the third floor. If you see a group of four insects, they are likely Attack Slugs; otherwise, Antoids are likely included. Fight Slugs; don't fight Antoids.
   4. If you haven't fought 16 Slugs by the time you reach the rope to the third floor, go in and out of the door to the right of that rope until you've fought 16 Slugs.
   5. Go up to the third floor and go between the bottom-right corner and the area near the rope until you've reached level 8. Attack Slugs should spawn in groups of 6 on the top floor; smaller groups are again likely to include Antoids. Watch your HP.
4. Once you're at level 8, go out the door at the top of the cave. Use Lifeup to restore Ness's HP completely, then use the magic butterfly to recover his PP.
5. Proceed toward Titanic Ant. Pick up the Hamburger from the gift box in the first room.
   • Avoid fighting more than one Antoid at a time. It's not guaranteed, but more often than not, Ness's stats at level 8 will be good enough to instantly win a fight with a single Antoid.
6. Use a Hamburger to recover Ness's HP if he's below 65 or so before fighting Titanic Ant. Avoid using Lifeup between the magic butterfly and the fight.
7. Fight Titanic Ant. Use Rockin α twice ASAP, then bash. If you can afford the PP, use Lifeup to heal the first time (if the Ant uses Magnet, prioritize getting in two Rockins). Heal with Hamburgers after that.
8. Visit Giant Step.
9. Walk back down to the entrance.
10. Answer, "No," to the police officer's question.

Captain Strong

1. Walk to the police station and tell Captain Strong that you want to go to Twoson.
   • In a casual run, you may choose to withdraw some money from the drugstore ATM and buy some Hamburgers if you don't have any left (be sure to withdraw enough to let you pay $200 to Apple Kid earlier). In a WR attempt, don't buy anything.
2. Bash the cops. Use Lifeup to recover if your HP drop below 55 (can try going down to 50 if you're out of burgers). Switch to Hamburgers when Ness gets below 15 PP.
3. Use Rockin against Captain Strong the first turn. Bash after that and heal as needed.
4. Walk down the road out of Onett. Pick up an Exit mouse on the way.
5. Grab the Hamburger by the side of the road unless you somehow have three or more left.
6. Walk into Twoson. Stay away from trees that could hide mushrooms behind them.

Pencil Eraser

1. Walk into the Twoson department store (go southeast from the entrance to Twoson) and withdraw at least $660 from the ATM.
   • If you bought Hamburgers earlier, you can skip this and use the ATM later.
2. Walk down to Apple Kid's. Feed him one of your burgers (or some other food item if you got one from enemies) and pay him $200. Get the Receiver phone.
3. Walk into Peaceful Rest Valley. Try to pick up a magic butterfly on the way. Unless Ness is at full health, use Lifeup immediately after getting the butterfly.
4. Get close enough to the pencil statue that you can see it, then walk back to Twoson. This should trigger the phone call from Apple Kid when you get back.
5. Talk to Apple Kid in the southwest corner of Burglin Park.

Mr. Carpainter

1. Go back into Peaceful Rest Valley. Use the Pencil eraser to remove the pencil statue, then proceed into Happy-Happy Village. You want to get enough magic butterflies along the way to restore Ness to full HP and PP. There are three places where butterflies commonly spawn:
   1. Just after the first bridge you cross, at the valley's northwest corner.
   2. To the east of the broken bridge, on the west side of the peninsula in the middle.
   3. Near the bend at the northeast side of the valley, before you head south past the cabin.
2. Stop in the drugstore.
   1. If you withdrew money in Onett, you will likely need to get more here. If you pulled $660+ in Twoson, you don't need to use the ATM.
   2. If you have leftover Cookies or Bread rolls, drop them now.
   3. From the shopkeeper on the right:
      1. Buy the Sand lot bat and equip it, selling back the Tee ball bat.
      2. Buy the Holmes hat and equip it, selling back the Baseball cap.
   4. From the shopkeeper on the left:
      1. Buy two Refreshing herbs.
      2. If you didn't happen to pick up the one from Giant Step, buy a Skip sandwich.
      3. Buy enough Croissants to bring you up to two healing items (either Croissants or Hamburgers).
3. Walk over to the cabin and talk to Paula.
4. Fight the Cultists outside. Use Rockin on the first turn since it has a chance to kill both Cultists. You may or may not choose to use it a second time if it doesn't work the first time, especially if more Cultists join the fight.
5. Heal with a Croissant or Hamburger after the fight if Ness is low on HP.
6. Enter the village hall and go toward Carpainter. Don't get any of the items just yet. If Ness has 20+ PP, you may consider using Rockin to open the fight with the one mandatory Cultist. Otherwise, it's probably better to save it in case the Cultists calls for help.
7. Make sure you've eaten or dropped at least one Hamburger/Croissant before the end of the Carpainter fight, or Ness won't have room in his inventory for the Key to the cabin.
8. Fight Carpainter. Agree to become his right-hand man. There are a couple approaches you can take with Carpainter:
   • If Ness has 20+ PP, or you're feeling gutsy, go for a one-round KO by using Rockin in the first turn. If both of Carpainter's lightning strikes connect, you will win.
   • If you're feeling less gutsy, wait until the third turn to use Rockin, since Carpainter will use Lifeup in the second turn and recover all the damage you would have dealt.
   • Either way, bash once you can't use Rockin anymore. You'll likely want to save some PP so you can use Lifeup in case the fight drags on.
9. If you have a Hamburger or Crossaint left in Ness's inventory, eat or drop it.
10. Pick up the Skip sandwich from the left-hand present on the way out.
11. Use the Key to the cabin on the cell door to rescue Paula.

Threed Ambush

1. Walk all the way back to the Polestar Preschool. Walk into the second room to trigger the dialogue with Paula's dad.
2. Unless you are going for all-out Teh Urn attempts, go up into Paula's room and get the Teddy bear from the gift box.
3. Go talk to Everdred.
4. Head over to the east side of the Chaos Theater and talk to the guy in green to get the Backstage pass. It should go into Paula's inventory (move it if it doesn't).
5. Enter the Chaos Theater, staying as far north as possible to avoid triggering a photo shoot.
6. Use the Backstage pass on the woman at the counter to enter the main hall.
7. Talk to the girl on the left side of the room to go backstage, then immediately leave the backstage area. Watch the show.
8. Walk into the office, go behind the desk, and use the Wad of bills on Mr. Poochyfud.
9. Go east when leaving the theater to avoid the photo shoot. It's safe to go south when Ness is completely past the flat wall to the right of the door. You can cross just north of the streetpost, though it might be easier to just go around to the south. Anyway, talk to the guy in red and tell him you want to go to Threed.
10. Get on the bus.
11. Walk up to the zombies at the northwest end of town and let them see you (watch for when they turn around). Go back to the hotel and follow the woman inside.
    • There are no spawn tiles between the north row of tombstones and the trees, so it's easiest to walk through there.
    • Watch out for flies spawning behind the trees near the zombies. If you see flies up there, try walking down toward the dead tree (you don't need to walk all the way down) to despawn them.
12. Follow the woman into the room on the left. Try to leave the prison once you've been captured.

Jeff's Adventures in Winters

1. Walk down into Maxwell's room, on the left side of the bottom floor. Talk to him. Use the Key to the locker on one of the lockers in the room on the right (it doesn't matter which one), then go back and talk to Maxwell again to get the Bad key machine.
2. Use the Bad key machine on the leftmost locker in the bottom row and the rightmost locker in the top row. This will get you the Pop gun and Holmes hat. Equip both.
3. Leave the school and talk to Tony to jump over the gate.
4. Go into the drugstore and talk to the woman. Agree to buy gum from her. Talk to Bubble Monkey.
5. Walk down near the shores of Lake Tess. Go into the tent on the far left and have some stew.
6. Walk over to the dirt patch on the peninsula to the east to trigger the lake crossing. There are a couple things to watch for:
   • There is a photo shoot between the eastmost tent and the lake. You can avoid it by either going around the north side of the tent or very carefully walking along the southern edge of the tent.
   • You want Bubble Monkey to be close to Jeff when you reach the dirt patch. Otherwise, Bubble Monkey will walk very slowly over to Jeff to get his piece of gum. If Bubble Monkey is lagging behind, wiggle a bit to encourage him to catch up.
7. Enter Dungeon Man. Take the bottom path to fight the first Worthless Protoplasm. Use the Boiled egg to heal if Jeff takes damage. Try to bash the Protoplasm to death.
   • This is one of the hardest fights in the game, no joke.
8. See if you can sneak past the Mad Duck. None of the enemies in here can ambush you, so don't worry about that.
9. If Jeff is low on health, pick up the Croissant from the gift box near the Mad Duck and eat it.
10. Try to skip the second Worthless Protoplasm, but don't worry too much if you don't.
    • To set up the skip, walk along the top edge of the path, then, when the Protoplasm starts moving toward you, walk straight down so you're on the row below it and continue going to the left. You will go past the Protoplasm if Bubble Monkey doesn't get caught.
11. Ignore Brick Road and proceed into the cave.
12. Only get the Hamburger (from the gift box in the first room) if Jeff is critically low on HP and you're worried about getting into fights in the cave.
13. Pick up the Bottle rocket from the gift box near the crystals in the last room.
14. Use the Pak of bubble gum near the rope in the last room to climb up. Try to get Bubble Monkey next to Jeff when you do this since Bubble Monkey flies very slowly.
15. Go into the lab and talk to Dr. Andonuts. It doesn't matter how you answer his questions.
16. Enter the Sky Runner and mash A until the Sky Runner lifts off.
    • The first Sky Runner cutscene takes a little over 2 minutes and requires no inputs once the Sky Runner has lifted off, so this is a good time for a quick break.

Mini Barf

1. Agree to let Jeff join the party.
2. Use the Bad key machine on the door to leave the prison.
3. Go right and get the Teddy bear from the garbage can.
4. Cut back southwest, past the (real) circus tent and then go south to reach Boogey Tent.
5. Have Ness use Rockin and Jeff fire his Big bottle rocket. If you got in fights earlier and Paula knows Psi Fire α, have her use that; otherwise, have her defend. If you don't win on the first turn, have Ness use Rockin again, Paula either use Fire or defend again, and Jeff fire his Bottle rocket. If that still doesn't do it, have Ness use Rockin (or heal people) and Paula pray.
6. Pick up the Jar of Fly Honey. Remember whether Ness or Paula gets it (Paula should get it unless Boogey Tent blew up one of your Teddy bears).
7. Go up through the gap to the left of the hospital. Walk behind the building on the left and talk to the arms dealer.
   1. Sell the Defense spray (from Jeff's inventory).
   2. Buy 3 Bottle rockets for Jeff (get 4 if you had to use one on Boogey Tent).
8. Walk up past the right side of the circus tent to trigger the call from Apple Kid.
9. Walk back down in front of the entrance to the circus tent and wait for the Zombie paper to be delivered.
10. Enter the tent, use the Zombie paper, and then leave. Go up to the hotel and stay the night.
    • You should not need to use the ATM unless you bought items not listed in the route or you had to revive someone at a hospital.
11. Walk to the entrance to the tunnel at the northwest side of town.
12. Go through the tunnel. Despawning enemies in the large rooms is tricky and somewhat risky since enemies can spawn on top of you in the corridors. Therefore, if you can't get an empty room, you may want to tolerate having only a couple zombies in the room. Try to avoid flies.
    • You can use Fire + Rockin on Urban Zombies.
    • You can use Freeze on Zombie Dogs. If you get in a fight with a single Zombie Dog, you can hypnotize it and then run.
13. Depending on how many enemies there are in the rooms, try to get the Skip sandwich DX from the first coffin and the Silver bracelet from the second coffin. Equip the Silver bracelet on Paula.
14. Fight Mini-Barf. Have Ness use Rockin, Paula use Fire, and Jeff fire Bottle rockets. Use up all of Jeff's Bottle rockets if you have to.

Master Belch

1. If Ness got the Jar of Fly Honey earlier, move it into Paula's inventory now.
2. Go through the tunnel into Saturn Valley. If you get a cockroach by the entrance to the tunnel, and Paula has at least for PP (she should after leveling from Mini Barf), just fight it and freeze it to death. Do the same if you get one in the last room. Try to despawn the others.
3. If you picked up any Tiny Lil' Ghosts, or if anyone died, visit Dr. Saturn in the yellow building.
4. Stay in the hotel (the red building) to restore everyone's HP/PP.
5. Talk to the middle Mr. Saturn (not the one who's fixed in place near the top ladder) to learn the password to the waterfall.
6. Go back through the tunnel. If you get a cockroach in the first room, freeze it. Despawn the others.
7. Go in and out of the exit of the tunnel until there aren't any enemies in the way, then go north to the waterfall.
8. Be extremely careful not to touch the D-pad in the next three minutes.
   • This is the run's official bathroom break.
9. Enter Belch's base. Tell the guard that you have Fly Honey or he'll fight you.
10. Don't worry about despawning Foppies around the ladder since you probably won't succeed. If you get in a fight with one or two Foppies, bash them to death. If there are more Foppies, have Ness use Rockin and Paula use Fire.
11. Go left toward Belch. Stop in the one room on the main floor for a magic butterfly if Paula is low on PP (TODO: define "low"). Use Freeze on Slimy Little Piles and anything you can on flies (note: you cannot run from Slimy Little Piles, even if you ambush them).
12. As you get near the guard, use the Skip sandwich DX (make sure it is the DX) to try to get around him.
13. Fight Master Belch.
    1. In the first round, have Ness use Rockin and Paula open the Jar of Fly Honey. Paula should move first, so Ness's Rockin will actually do meaningful damage. Jeff can defend.
    2. In the second round, have Ness use a Refreshing herb if someone become nauseous; otherwise, he can use Rockin. Paula should use Freeze β and Jeff should fire a Bottle rocket if he still has one.
    3. In the third round, have Ness use Rockin or defend, depending on how close you are to finishing off Belch's 650 HP. Paula should use Freeze β. Jeff should fire a Bottle rocket if he still has any left, or defend if not.
14. If you didn't get the chance to use a Refreshing herb during the fight for some reason, fix that now. Also use Lifeup if anyone is really low on HP.
15. Use the Exit mouse to get out.

Mine Entrance

1. On the way back to Threed, pick up the Protein drink from the first gift box you pass (the north one). Ness should get it unless you get a drop from an enemy on the way.
2. Back in Threed, check the sign on the south side of the street to pick up a bus into Dusty Dunes.
3. Stutter-step past the Mole Playing Rough.
4. Go east through the desert, sticking close to the rocks to minimize the risk of battles.
5. Pick up the Big bottle rocket from the gift box before the shack.
6. Stop in the shack and stay the night to recover everyone's HP and PP.
7. Talk to Gerardo outside the shack. Feed him Paula's Bread roll.
8. Walk into Fourside and buy a ticket at the Topolla theater (from the guy on the right).
9. Walk to the guy blocking the gap by the counter and...
   1. Have Ness give the Big bottle rocket to Jeff.
   2. Use the Show ticket on the guy.
10. Go into the office on the left and talk to the theater manager.
11. Leave and walk back into the mine.

Mine

1. Walk all the way to the top and go down the ladder.
2. Go to the left to fight a mole. Have Ness defend while Paula uses Freeze β and Jeff fires the Big bottle rocket.
3. Take the ladder on the left up.
4. Go down and around the bend.
5. Pick up the Big bottle rocket on the way back up and give it to Jeff.
   • If Ness didn't get the Big bottle rocket, figure out what extra item he has in his inventory and drop it.
6. Continue up and go down the ladder at the end of that hallway.
7. Walk up toward the mole. Stay along the bottom wall and wiggle to pull the mole out toward you, so enemies aren't as likely to spawn behind you). Again use Freeze β + a Big bottle rocket to defeat the mole.
8. Go back up the ladder you took to get in. Walk over to the central area with the Exit mice.
9. Pick up the Picnic lunch from the gift box to the north/west. Ness should get it.
10. Walk up toward the third mole. Again try to draw it toward you so the spawn tile behind you doesn't activate. Depending on Ness & Paula's PP, either use Rockin β + Freeze β or have Paula use Freeze β twice, with Ness using Lifeup on her the first time regardless of whether she appears to need it. The latter strategy probably works better in general.
    • NOTE: there's a Secret herb just southeast of this mole. You can pick it up if Paula or Ness dies, but you will have to deal with enemies spawning behind you.
11. Go back down by the Exit mice. Take the path on the left and go down. Draw this mole toward you as well. Use the same strategy as for the previous mole.
12. Go back to the central area. Get an Exit mouse.
13. Take the path down to the last mole. Use the same strategy as for the last two moles.
14. Inventory management:
    1. Ness:
       1. Drop the Sand lot bat.
       2. Drop the Holmes hat.
       3. Drop the Cheap bracelet.
       4. Drop any remaining Refreshing herbs.
       5. If Ness somehow still has a Teddy bear, give it to Jeff.
    2. Jeff:
       1. Drop the Holmes hat.
       2. Drop the Boiled egg if you somehow haven't used it yet.
       3. Give the Pak of bubble gum to Paula.
       4. Give the Bad key machine to Paula.
    3. Paula:
       1. If Paula still has a Teddy bear and you didn't already give one to Jeff, give it to Jeff.
15. Pick up the Platinum band from the gift box on the left. Equip it on Ness.
16. Use the Exit mouse and leave the mine.
17. After leaving the mine, talk to Gerardo.
18. Stay at the shack unless Ness has a lot of PP remaining (TODO: define "a lot").

Dept. Store Spook

1. Walk back to the Topolla Theater. Buy a Show ticket and use it.
2. Go into the office. Walk behind the counter and use the Diamond on the theater manager.
3. Go into the main hall and watch the show.
4. Leave the theater and go into the department store.
5. Withdraw at least $9400 from the ATM on the bottom floor.
6. Take the escalator up and talk to the arms dealer in the side room on the second floor.
   1. Buy 4 Super bombs for Ness.
   2. Buy 3 Super bombs for Paula.
   3. Buy the Hyper beam for Jeff, equipping it and selling the Pop gun.
   4. Buy 9 Big bottle rockets for Jeff unless he has a Teddy bear, in which case, buy 8.
   5. Buy 2 Super bombs for Jeff.
7. Take the escalator back down and walk far enough right to trigger the kidnapping.
   • For races or casual runs, making a safety save before triggering the kidnapping is recommended.
8. Go up to the top of the store. You should be able to dodge the presents on the second and third floors (though there usually aren't any on the third floor).
9. At the top of the last escalator, you will very likely get in a fight.
   • If there is more than one enemy, have Ness throw a Super bomb at the enemy on the left and Jeff throw one at the enemy on the right. If that doesn't do it, use more Super bombs.
   • If there is only one enemy, Jeff can probably take it out with a Big bottle rocket. You may also want Ness to throw a Super bomb to be sure.
   • There is a good chance you will die here. It happens.
10. Once you finish that fight, walk down to the bottom edge of the floor and walk under the toy display, so the enemies that likely spawned in the middle of the room can't catch you.
11. Fight Dept. Store Spook. Have Ness throw a Super bomb and Jeff launch a Big bottle rocket. Shoot another Big bottle rocket if that somehow doesn't do it.
12. On the way out, stop by the sporting goods shop (on the right side of the top floor) and buy a Mr. Baseball bat for Ness now that he has inventory space.
    • Be very careful not to walk up or down while passing between the toy racks. Just go straight to the right. There is a photographer lurking near there.
13. Leave the department store.

Evil Mani-Mani

1. Walk over to the cafe. Talk to the hostess on the far right to spawn Everdred outside.
2. Talk to the guy with the hair covering his eyes on the right. Give him Jeff's protractor.
3. Talk to Everdred. Make sure to say you don't want to hear his story again.
4. Go back into the cafe and check the wall behind the counter (don't get too close to the bartender or you'll talk to him instead).
5. Leave the Moonside cafe. If the Robo-Pump in the corner attacks you, have Jeff shoot a Bottle rocket at it and then bash it to death.
6. Outside, go southeast and talk to the nearest Warp Man to head down by the sailor guy.
7. Talk to the sailor guy, then go up to the northeast and talk to the Warp Man near the hospital steps.
8. Pick up the Night pendant from the nearby gift box and equip it on Ness.
9. Go through the Warp Man sequence, answering, "No," to the last one's question.
10. Talk to the invisible man (say, "No") and then talk to Mr. T.
11. Walk to the bottom edge of the hotel room and the go all the way right before going out the door. This prevents the invisible man's dialogue from triggering.
12. Go west and talk to the Warp Man you talked to earlier (not the one farthest to the east) to go back down by the sailor guy.
13. Talk to the sailor guy, then head over to the statue. Make sure you're as far up as you can be when you check the statue so you skip Monotoli's dialogue.
14. To fight Mani-Mani:
    1. Have Ness throw a Super bomb while Jeff shoots a Big bottle rocket.
    2. If Mani-Mani is still alive after that, have Ness use Rockin while Jeff shoots a Big bottle rocket. That really should do it.
    3. If Ness is paralyzed, have Jeff launch Big bottle rockets. If Jeff is paralyzed, have Ness use up his Super bombs and then use Rockin β.

Monkey Cave

1. If Ness was paralyzed, move the Pencil eraser into Jeff's inventory.
2. Walk down to the bus stop and take a bus into Dusty Dunes.
3. Go into the hole with the monkeys (dodge the mole on the way in).
4. Give a Skip sandwich to the monkey on the right, then a Picnic lunch to the monkey on the left.
5. Go in the left door and get the Pizza out of the chest. Go out the door you just came in.
6. Go in the right door and proceed to the next set of monkeys. Ignore the chests here.
7. Give a Pizza to the right monkey and a Protein drink to the left monkey.
8. Go in the right door. Pick up the Hamburger from the chest and continue into the next room.
9. Give Jeff's Ruler to the monkey on the left and go in. Get the King banana from the monkey inside.
10. Go back out to the last group of two monkeys, and this time, go in the left door. Ignore the chests you pass.
11. Give the King banana to the right monkey and the Hamburger to the left monkey.
12. Go in the left door and get the Bag of Dragonite from the chest.
13. Go back in the right door. Use the Pencil eraser.
14. Talk to Talah Rama and the monkey.
15. Get the Cup of Lifenoodles from the chest on the left.
16. Walk out. Talk to the monkey on the left, then follow it down to the street and talk to it again (dodge the mole).
17. Teleport into Fourside.

Clumsy Robot

1. Talk to Electra, in front of the Monotoli Building.
2. Go into the Monotoli Building and take the two elevators up.
3. Go from the top elevator into the lobby. Use a Skip sandwich just before entering the next room.
4. Hug the top wall and go into the right door as quickly as possible to dodge the first Sentry Robot.
5. Run to the door on the left.
6. Continue left and go into the next door. If the second Sentry Robot is blocking it, try to go around it and run into the door on the far left.
7. Go under the desks to pin the third Sentry Robot against them, then wrap around the desks to the upper-left corner of the room. Squeeze between the desk in the upper left and the wall and go through the door at the top.
   • The advantage to using a Skip sandwich earlier rather than a Skip sandwich DX is that it's tough to get past this desk while your sandwich is active.
8. Go through the left door in the next room.
9. Go up-left until you've reached the top wall, then go left a little and through the door at the top. This should get you around the last Sentry Robot.
10. Go through the left door again.
11. Fight Clumsy Robot.
    • Have Ness use Paralysis until it works. Jeff can bash in the meantime. After that, have Ness bash.
12. Go into Monotoli's room. You have a decision to make here.
    • If Ness and Jeff have plenty of HP and Ness's PP are good, hold down+left and talk to Monotoli before he can run from you. This is about three seconds faster than letting him run.
    • If someone needs to be healed, let Monotoli run from you. This is probably faster than skipping his dialogue and then taking care of the healing.
13. Make sure you tell Monotoli that you don't want him to repeat his story.
14. Go outside and watch Pokey fly away. Walk back outside and get on the bus (note that you don't need to talk to anyone this time).
15. Walk up to the entrance to the prison. The fastest route takes you past the hospital and circus tent, but watch out for the photo shoot near the tent (it helps to stay close to the fence until you're east of the tent).
16. Get on the Sky Runner.

Shrooom!

1. Go up into Rainy Circle and fight Shrooom! Have the characters use do the following unless they're mashroomized, in which case, they should just defend.
   1. Ness: Rockin.
   2. Paula: throw two Super bombs, then switch to Fire β.
   3. Jeff: shoot Big bottle rockets. Try to have at least three left after the fight.
2. Visit Rainy Circle.
3. Head back into the lab and talk to Dr. Andonuts.
4. Get on the Sky Runner.

Summers

1. Walk east into Toto. Go into the right-hand door in the first house with two doors (the fourth door). Talk to the guy with the dreadlocks inside.
2. Enter a short player name.
3. Go west. Use the phone in the museum to call the Stoic Club.
   • You can teleport around taxis or signs if you can't despawn them.
4. Continue west and go into the Stoic Club.
   1. Talk to the big-headed guy on the left side of the club (the one kind of near Mr. T).
   2. Talk to the woman on the lower-right side of the club and tell her you want cake.
5. Go west a bit and talk to the woman with the cart at the south side of the road.
6. Pick up the Brain food lunch and Cup of Lifenoodles from the top two boxes in the throne room.
7. Go down to the southeast end of Dalaam. Walk behind the sign and then the Star Master to avoid having to talk to him. Go up the ropes and go through the Mu Training sequence.
8. Go back and talk to Poo's master to go back to Summers.
9. Head into the museum. Pay the fee at the counter.
10. Go upstairs and agree to give away Poo's ruby.
11. Walk over to the sign by the hieroglyphs. You should get in a fight with one of the Shattered Man.
    1. Have Ness defend. Paula and Poo should use Freeze β and Jeff should fire a Big bottle rocket. If that somehow doesn't end the fight, use Freeze some more.
12. Check the sign, then leave. Unless you move really slowly, you should get out before fighting the other Shattered Man.
13. After leaving the room, have Ness give the Hieroglyph copy to Poo.
14. If you gave the Pencil eraser to Jeff earlier, move it into Paula's inventory now.
15. If anyone took significant damage, use Lifeup.
16. Go back over to the Toto shop. Buy:
    1. 3 Skip sandwich DXes for Ness.
    2. 5 Skip sandwich DXes for Paula.
    3. 10 Skip sandwich DXes for Poo.
17. Go east a bit and talk to the sailor by the stairs. Stay near the houses until you're above that sailor so you don't accidentally trigger a photo shoot. Agree to cross the ocean.
18. Fight Kraken. Ness should throw his last Super bomb, Paula should throw her last Super bomb, Jeff should fire a Big bottle rocket, and Poo should use Freeze β. If that doesn't do it, use more Psi (or have Jeff shoot a rocket if he has at least two left).
19. Use Lifeup and/or visit the hospital as needed when you get to Summers.

Pyramid

All enemies in the pyramid are vulnerable to Paralysis except for the Guardian Hieroglyphs and the Guardian General. The Guardian Hieroglyphs and Lethal Asp Hieroglyphs can be hypnotized. Take advantage of this to run from enemies. If Ness is low on PP, Paula can use Freeze on Lethal Asp Hieroglyphs. Also, remember that your party is completely healed at the exit.

1. Go down to the shopkeeper in a white turban on the west side of the market. Buy a Crystal charm for Jeff and equip it on him.
2. Go left, being careful not to go up or down until you get past the pond, then go down and left to get out of town.
3. Head over to the pyramid. Walk around the tiles to enter.
4. Position yourself south of the entrance to the pyramid, then have Ness use Teleport α directly into the door. Hold up while everyone's fried. You should step into the pyramid before the photographer triggers.
5. Go in and out of the door until the first room is clear. Go up and down the stairs in the second room until the platform at the top is clear.
6. Just before going through the door at the top of the stairs, have Paula use a Skip sandwich DX.
7. Hold down when entering the next room. Go down to the last "crack" before the bottom of the room, then go right until you're below the other door, then go up. You should skip the hieroglyph.
8. Go up the stairs in the next room. Go down+right slightly when you get to the middle platform, then hit up+right again near the next stairs. This should take you past the hieroglyphs in the middle. At the top platform, hold right until you are next to the door, then hit up to skip the snake.
9. Take whatever fight you get in the middle room (the one with the casket covering the entrance to the Hawk eye room). Paralyze the enemies and run.
   • TODO: see if there's a more reliable way to get through here.
10. Just before you go out the door on the right side of the middle room, have Paula use another Skip sandwich DX.
11. Hold right and then tap down when you hit the stairs. You should bypass the hieroglyphs.
12. In the room with the two coffins, just take whatever fight you get and use Paralysis or Hypnosis as necessary. If there are no enemies in the room, go down-right-up to dodge the hieroglyph on the wall.
    • If Ness used his Cup of Lifenoodles earlier, pick up the one in the coffin on the right.
13. Once again hold right and then tap down at the stairs to skip the asp.
14. Go down and fight Guardian General. Have Paula and Poo use their strongest Freeze while Jeff fires a Big bottle rocket. If that doesn't do it, use Freeze some more (or use any remaining rockets).
15. Go into the room on the right and hit the tile. Use Paralysis or whatever if you have to.
    • TODO: how many tries does it normally take to get a clear room here?
16. If Ness is below 30 PP or so, use Poo's Brain food lunch on him.
17. Go back up. Have Paula use another Skip sandwich as you near the top of the second stairs in the room that used to have Guardian General. Try to dodge hieroglyphs on the way back to the middle room (it's tricky).
18. Fall into the hole with the Hawk eye and pick it up.
19. Have Paula use another Skip sandwich DX after that and use it to dodge the hieroglyph in this room and at the top of the stairs in the next room.
    • TODO: do you need to use the sandwich before falling in the hole?
20. In the room at the top of the stairs, go down to the bottom of the room (make sure you reach the bottom edge), then go right and around the hole and get the Diamond band out of the coffin.
21. Make sure your previous sandwich has worn off, then have Paula use another one.
22. Fall down the hole and try to ambush whatever enemy you get.
23. Go into the last room and just hold right. At most one hieroglyph should come off the wall at you. Tap up when you reach the door.

Yellow Submarine

1. Talk to the native near the pool to get the Key to the tower. It should go into Paula's inventory, assuming Ness's is still full. Move it into Paula's if it doesn't.
2. Head over to Dungeon Man in the northwest.
   • You can teleport into Dungeon Man if you start just above the merchant and hold up+left.
3. Use the Key to the tower to enter Dungeon Man.
4. Withdraw as much as you can from the ATM (probably round to the nearest hundred).
5. Walk through Dungeon Man.
6. Talk to Dungeon Man when you get to the top.
7. Take the hole out and exit.
8. Have Ness use a Skip sandwich DX outside. Run to the right and go around the right side of the pyramid exit, then go back to the left and down through the trees.
   • If you get in fights, have Paula use Freeze and Ness and Jeff use any Super bombs that they may have left over. Big bottle rockets won't work well on the UFOs. Realistically, you're dependent on Dungeon Man doing good damage...
9. Talk to the native on the right and say that you want to cross the swamp. Use Teleport to dodge enemies if you have to.
10. Go back through Dungeon Man. When you reach the top, skip talking to Dungeon Man and just take the Goodbye Hole out.
11. When approaching the submarine, note that all of the enemies are Worthless Protoplasms and they should run from you as long as all three party members are alive.
12. Use the revitalizer if you're ailing badly.
13. Get in the submarine.

Master Barf

Throughout Deep Darkness, have Ness use Teleport α to run into stuff rather than trudging through the swamp. It's faster and helps you avoid fights.

1. If Jeff still has a Super bomb, give it to Ness.
2. Talk to the Arms dealer.
   1. Sell Ness's Platinum band.
   2. Sell the Diamond band and Hyper beam.
   3. Sell any Big bottle rockets Jeff might have left.
   4. Buy Ness 1 or 2 Super bombs, depending on whether he already has one.
   5. Buy Jeff at least 11 Multi bottle rockets, ideally 13.
   6. Buy Paula 1 or 2 Super bombs, depending on how much cash you have. Make sure you have at least $70 left over when done.
3. Use the Hawk eye when you reach the dark part.
4. If you're out of Cups of Lifenoodles, pick up the one from the gift box near the helicopter.
5. Shoot a Multi bottle rocket at Master Barf. With the Crystal charm on Jeff, it's very likely that Barf will be killed in one hit.
6. Enter Tenda Village and then immediately leave.
7. Take the phone call and then teleport into Winters.

Starman Deluxe

1. Go down through Winters, across Lake Tess. Use the Pencil eraser to get rid of the statue on the way.
2. Go into the lab. Use the revitalizer to refill your PP, then talk to the mouse to get the Eraser eraser. It should go into Paula's stuff.
3. Go down into Stonehenge. Just in front of the eraser statue:
   1. Drop the Casey bat.
   2. Move the Eraser eraser into Paula's inventory if Ness got it.
   3. Move the Crystal charm from Jeff to Paula.
   4. Equip the Crystal charm on Paula (she has a higher base speed than Jeff, so this helps with running).
   5. Use the Eraser eraser to remove the statue.
4. Try to run from most encounters in here. Have Ness hypnotize Mook Seniors before running.
5. Take the right path in the second room. Turn right where the paths rejoin in the third room. You can probably despawn enemies without too much trouble at this point.
6. In the fifth room (the one with the really high spawn rate), go in and out the door until you have a clear-ish path, then use a Skip sandwich DX from Poo's inventory to give yourself a better chance of ambushing enemies or simply bypassing them. Despawning enemies in this room is probably not worth the effort.
7. Have Poo use another Skip sandwich DX when you get to the bottom of the first ladder in the next room.
8. Pick up an Exit mouse.
9. Before fighting Starman Deluxe, give the Crystal charm from Paula to Jeff and equip it on Jeff.
10. Have Jeff launch an MBR at Starman Deluxe. Again, with the Crystal charm, the rocket should be a one-hit KO.
11. Go into the room on the left and talk to Dr. Andonuts.
12. Use the Exit mouse to get out.
13. Teleport to Onett.

Electro Specter

1. Walk to the south end of town and get an Exit mouse.
2. Teleport to Onett again.
3. Go into the library. Go into the right room on the first floor and check the left end of the bookshelf to get the Shyness book.
4. Teleport to Tenda Village.
5. Use the Shyness book on the elder. Confirm that you want a short name.
6. Give the Pencil eraser from Ness to Poo.
7. If Ness got the Tendakraut, give that to Poo as well.
8. Talk to the elder to get a Bag of Dragonite, which should now go to Ness.
9. Talk to the strong guy to move the rock blocking the rope.
10. Talk to the rock at the bottom of the rope.
11. Go north to the rope at the dead end, near the gift box. Take that rope down.
    1. Use Starstorm if you fight more than a couple Fobbies.
    2. Hypnotize Uncontrollable Spheres and run from them.
    3. Freeze everything else.
12. Go around to the rope at the far end.
13. Have Poo use a Skip sandwich DX when you take the last rope out to make it easier to run past Fobbies.
14. Fight Electro Specter. Have Paula throw a Super bomb while Jeff launches two Multi bottle rockets. Throw more Super bombs if that doesn't do it.
15. Now that the enemies are all running from you, pick up the Rabbit's foot from the gift box south of the shining spot. It should go to Paula. Equip it on her.
16. Go back up, learn the new melody, and fall down the hole.

Plague Rat of Doom

1. Teleport into Fourside.
2. Go into the museum and try to enter without paying. Agree to pay. Talk to Mr. Spoon in the back.
3. Go over to the Topolla Theater and watch the Venus concert. Go backstage and talk to Venus.
4. Go back to the museum and use the Signed banana on Mr. Spoon.
5. Go into the sewer. Try to despawn enemies that are right near the ladder.
6. Get in the water and walk all the way over to the right. Freeze Filthy Attack Roaches; run from other fights.
7. Fire a Multi bottle rocket at Plague Rat of Doom.
8. Go up, learn the new melody, and pick up the Carrot key.
9. Go back down into the sewer and use the Exit mouse.
10. Go outside. Without walking anywhere, use Teleport α to go to Dalaam. Hold down+right to run over the photo shoot trigger, then switch to up+right once you're in the street to finish the teleport.

Thunder and Storm

1. Go down to the south end of Dalaam and use the Carrot key on the statues.
2. Take the ropes up. Have Poo use a Skip sandwich DX when you hit the top part to help avoid enemies. Run from all encounters in here.
3. Always fall down the hole farthest to the left.
4. For Thunder and Storm, have Jeff fire a Multi bottle rocket, and Poo use Starstorm just in case the MBR doesn't do enough damage (Jeff will usually attack before Poo thanks to the Crystal charm's speed boost).
5. Learn the new melody.
6. Go back in and fall down the hole on the right side.
7. Take the ropes back up and out.
8. Teleport to Onett.

Diamond Dog

You can run from the dinosaurs and kind of run from enemies in Fire Spring. It might be best to freeze Soul Consuming Flames rather than trying to run from them. You can hypnotize Evil Elementals to make it easier to run.

1. Go to the south end of town and pick up another Exit mouse.
2. Teleport to the Lost Underworld.
3. Go northeast a bit and pick up the Sea pendant. It should go to either Ness or Paula. If Ness gets it, equip it on him.
   • The run is a bit safer if Ness gets it. If you're concerned about that, you can have Ness drop the Mr. Baseball bat to make room.
4. Go all the way west, then go south to the entrance to Fire Spring.
5. Go into the second door on the bottom floor.
   1. Go in and out of this door until either the passage is clear or the enemies are both running from you. In the latter case, try to ambush them.
6. Go up the rope and into the door above. See if you can either despawn the enemy or get it far enough away that you can escape up the rope (though it sometimes spawns on top of you).
7. Again try to either despawn or ambush the enemies in the narrow passage.
8. Go up the two ropes and in the door up there. If there are a lot of enemies, have Poo use a Skip sandwich DX after your fight on the middle platform so you can hopefully run into the door before the enemies on the top get you.
9. Go to the door on the far left of the large room. You can use the middle door to try to despawn the enemies here.
10. Climb up to the top. You can have Poo use another Skip sandwich DX to try to get past enemies, either in the middle or at the top.
11. Before the fight with Diamond Dog, have Paula give the Rabbit's foot to Jeff and equip the Rabbit's foot on him. This is necessary to maximize the damage done by Jeff's rockets.
12. Fight Diamond dog. On the first two turns, have Ness use Lifeup β on Jeff and have Jeff shoot a Multi bottle rocket while Poo and Paula defend. On the third turn, have Jeff shoot a Multi bottle rocket while everyone defends.
    1. If you're down to 4 or 5 rockets going into the fight, you can try to win with just 2 rockets by having Paula and Poo use their strongest Freeze and/or Starstorm.
13. Learn the melody of Fire Spring, then use your Exit mouse.
14. Teleport to Onett.

Mondo Mole

1. Pick up another Exit mouse.
2. Teleport to Twoson.
3. Walk over to Peaceful Rest Valley and continue on into Happy-Happy Village.
4. Walk over to Mondo Mole and auto fight him to death. None of the enemies should come after you at your current level.
5. Learn the melody, then use the Exit mouse to get out.
6. Teleport to Saturn Valley.
   • If you teleport as soon as you exit the cave, you can use Teleport α and just go left.

Trillionage Sprout

1. Go through the cave up to the middle platform and take the ladder on the right to the top.
2. Hug the right side of the hot spring and then hug the sign next to the entrance to Milky Well before going in. This avoids the photo shoot right in front of the entrance.
3. Have Poo use a Skip sandwich DX somewhere in the first tunnel to help you run past enemies. Some of them will chase you, some won't. You can either run from the ones who attack you or use Starstorm.
4. If you have at least 4 Multi bottle rockets left, fire one at Trillionage Sprout. Possibly still fire one even if you just have 3, depending on how risk you want Giygas to be. If you're down to 2, use Rockin/Fire/Starstorm until you win.
5. Before going past the shining spot, have Jeff give the Rabbit's foot to Ness and equip it on Ness.
6. In a serious run, you probably shouldn't pause to check your inventory, but if you must, Ness should have these, among other things:
   1. Rabbit's foot (equipped)
   2. Night pendant and/or Sea pendant
   3. Franklin badge
   4. 2 Bags of Dragonite
   5. 1 or 2 Super bombs
   6. 2 Skip sandwich DXes
7. Learn the final melody and go on into Magicant.

Ness's Nightmare

With the Rabbit's foot equipped, you can run from all of the enemies in Magicant in a few turns except the Loaded Dice. Use Paralysis on those before attempting to run. You can also hypnotize Uncontrollable Spheres if they're summoned.

1. Walk up to the red part of Magicant. Use a Skip sandwich DX to help you dodge enemies and open up an inventory slot.
2. Take the first fork over to the right and get the Bag of Dragonite from the gift box.
3. Go back to the main path and continue on. Your sandwich should run out just before you reach the next gift box. Use another Skip sandwich DX and then get the Magicant bat from the box.
4. Run all the way to the end of the path.
5. When you reach the Sea of Eden, equip the Magicant bat and Sea pendant. If you don't have the Sea pendant on Ness, equip the Night pendant instead.
6. Wait for the first Kraken to get far enough down and to the right that you can slip by it.
   • If you end up in a fight with it, bash it to death. Heal if you need to heal, though the fight's actually pretty easy with the Sea pendant and Franklin badge.
7. Try to get the second Kraken stuck behind one of the spires so you can get around it.
8. Try to avoid the third Kraken completely.
9. Fight Ness's Nightmare. Use your three Bags of Dragonite, then switch to Super bombs. If that's not enough, you can try using Rockin γ, though you should try to conserve some PP for healing. Bashing kind of works if it comes to that, though you really should win with the three Bags and the two Super bombs.

Phase Distorter

1. Equip the Rabbit's foot on Ness again when you get back.
2. Talk to Dr. Andonuts and get in the Phase Distorter. Tell Dr. Andonuts that you have seen a meteorite recently.
3. Teleport to Onett.
4. Walk up to the meteorite. Use Teleport α to dodge enemies. If you get in a fight, just run. Only Ness needs to be alive for this part (though having multiple party members helps if someone gets diamondized).
5. Check the meteorite to get the Meteorite piece. Teleport back to Saturn Valley.
6. Use the Meteorite piece on Dr. Andonuts.
7. Stay in the hotel.
8. Talk to Dr. Andonuts twice, saying both times that you're ready.
9. Get in the Phase Distorter.
10. If you're out of Cups of Lifenoodles, check the wrecked Phase Distorter for a Horn of Life.
11. Walk about halfway down the upper peninsula, then turn around and go back to spawn Dr. Andonuts and Apple Kid.
12. Talk to Apple Kid, then to Dr. Andonuts, and then to Andonuts again after he walks to the end of the peninsula. Keep saying, "Yes," when he asks.

Giygas

1. Run through the past, to Giygas's lair. Have Poo use Skip sandwiches to minimize the fights you get in. Run from everything.
2. When you get into Giygas's lair, rearrange your inventory as follows:
   1. Give the Sea pendant to Paula, if Ness has it.
   2. Give the Franklin badge to Paula.
   3. Give the Rabbit's foot to Jeff
3. Equip the Night pendant on Ness, the Sea pendant on Paula, and the Rabbit's foot on Jeff.
4. Giygas phase 1:
   1. Have Ness throw a Super bomb at Pokey, Paula use Psi Shield Σ, Jeff shoot a Multi bottle rocket at Pokey, and Poo defend. If Poo has more than 93 PP, he can use Freeze β on Pokey.
      • You can also have Ness try to paralyze Pokey, depending on whether you're more concerned about Pokey's attacks or getting in damage on Giygas.
   2. On the next turn, Ness can heal someone, bash Pokey, throw another Super bomb, or continue with Paralysis if it didn't work the first time. Paula can use her strongest Freeze or throw a Super bomb if she has one. Jeff should fire another rocket and Poo should defend.
   3. If the fight continues, have Ness keep bashing, Paula keep freezing, and Jeff keep shooting (unless he's out of rockets). Three rockets plus the other damage should really be enough...
5. Giygas phase 2:
   1. Have Ness use his strongest Rockin, Paula use her strongest Freeze, Jeff defend, and Poo use Starstorm Ω. Repeat.
6. Giygas phase 3:
   1. Have Ness use Lifeup on Paula if she's low on HP.
   2. Have Paula pray until you win while the others defend.

Epilogue

1. Tell Paula you will not escort her home.
2. Teleport to Onett.
3. As you approach Ness's house, line up below the gap in the fence so you're on the right-ish side.
4. Use Teleport α to run into the door to Ness's house and hold up when you land. This skips the photo shoot at the gap in the fence and should hopefully skip Paula's dialogue at the door.
5. Talk to Ness's mom a couple times.
6. Go downstairs and talk to Picky.
7. SPLIT