Hanging Gardens is a fairly straightforward level with a core that is infamous for its irregularly forming ground which is a huge danger in a speedrun.

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Hanging Gardens, New Game

Overview

The important thing to keep in mind is that the ground in many, seemingly random spots of this level forms very slowly. It takes practice and experience to understand how to make your way through it quickly and without falls.

The first obstacle you will encounter is a gate that opens after killing a turret in front of it. Right before you reach it, the camera will, for a few seconds, get locked on Zulf who is standing on a nearby, currently unreachable platform. You can, however, open the gate while you wait for the camera to unlock. To do that, you will have to position the Kid in a way that will make him roll offscreen towards the position of that red turret. Roll twice without holding down the mouse button, and then depending on what Skill you have, use Whirlwind or wait a moment to let the turret spawn lock on and throw a Hand Grenade. Both will be enough to destroy the turret. Be careful to roll in the right direction to avoid falling off or being too far from the turret to hit it with the Whirlwind.

After the gate opens, you will find yourself in a small enclosed space with a bunch of turrets spawning, and another gate. By positioning yourself in the left corner of this gate and rolling right/down-right, you will be able to clip through this gate without having to kill any more turrets.