Bastion/NG Any% Route

This is a description of the Any% route for New Game. Every core and shard that is picked up must be duplicated (but if a dupe is missed, backup strategies exist in the form of having to do an additional level).

Level Order

1. Wharf District
2. Workmen Ward
3. Hanging Gardens
4. Cinderbrick Fort
5. Roathus Lagoon
6. Colford Cauldron
7. Burstone Quarry

Doing these levels is the fastest way to acquire 14 cores/shards. Wharf District is unskippable. Workmen Ward, Hanging Gardens, Cinderbrick Fort, Roathus Lagoon and Colford Cauldron are the five fastest levels that have a core or a shard. Burstone Quarry is faster than the other available options (the Melting Pot or doing Prosper Bluff to unlock and do Wild Outskirts) thanks to, mostly, the Ura Invasion Skip.

Hanging Gardens is done before the Cinderbrick Fort because the Scrap Musket isn't useful in the Hanging Gardens and it's faster to select Roathus Lagoon on the map after the Cinderbrick Fort.

Route Framework

Complete Wharf District, and duplicate the core at the end.

After Wharf District

There is no rest inside the Bastion. Upon entering, we will complete the Dialogue Glitch. This will allow us to build nothing in this visit to the Bastion. It will also store text which we can use in the next visit to the Bastion as a text skip. Details are available in the dialogue glitch page. When you get to the map, be sure not to select Workmen Ward too quickly, as hitting Enter on the map before it is selectable will force you to leave the map screen, force you to build a building, listen to Rucks' dialogue on the map screen, and lose the text skip on the next visit.

Complete Workmen Ward, and duplicate the core at the end.

After Workmen Ward

Store both cores. Build anything you want in the top left build slot, then go to the Skyway. To get the text skip, assuming you did dialogue glitch properly earlier, you just need to cross over a trigger near the foundation you just built on. You can miss this trigger, however, by cutting the corner from the foundation to the Skyway.

An estimation of where the saved text trigger is after Workmen Ward

Complete Hanging Gardens, and duplicate the core at the end.

After Hanging Gardens

Store the cores, build whatever you'd like in the top right slot and leave for Cinderbrick Fort. There is no text to be skipped here.

Complete Cinderbrick Fort, and duplicate the core at the end.

After Cinderbrick Fort

Immediately after returning from Cinderbrick, you have to execute the pipe glitch. This allows you to only have to build one building before opening the skyway, and also gives you a text skip if you go quickly.

When you reach the skyway, you can select Roathus Lagoon and go to it immediately if you got the text skip. However, the icon for Roathus Lagoon is underneath the FLY and INFO buttons on the right side of the map. It is possible to click on an area on those buttons to select the level. Press enter after selecting it to head to Roathus Lagoon. You could, alternatively, move the map to the right to click on Roathus.

Complete Roathus Lagoon, and duplicate the core at the end.

After Roathus Lagoon

Store both shards, upgrade the one of the two uppermost buildings and leave for Colford Cauldron. The Skyway text is skipped with the building upgrade narration.

Complete Colford Cauldron, and duplicate the core at the end.

After Colford Cauldron

Store the shards, upgrade the remaining top slot building, and go to the Skyway to fly to the Burstone Quarry. Again, the upgrade gives you the text skip.

Complete Burstone Quarry, and duplicate the core at the end.

After Burstone Quarry

When you come back from Burstone Quarry, you will find the Ura attacking the Bastion. This is known as the Ura Invasion. You will be able to skip this section, as described on the invasion page.

When you reach the normal Bastion, store both shards in the monument and you will start loading the Heart of the Bastion.

The Heart of the Bastion

This is the final moment! You will need to talk to both Zia and Rucks before you can use the monument. However, you don't actually have to listen to them talk about anything. You simply need to open and close their dialogue options. Talk to Zia first, then Rucks, as you spawn closer to Zia, and the monument trigger is closer to Rucks.

Unfortunately, you only have one ending option in NG Any% because you did not pick up the journal from Prosper Bluff. Upon selecting Restoration, timing ends.

Experience Route

The reason for why we have to manipulate experience is this: If you level up while duplicating a Core or a Shard, if the level-up happened on the first of the pair of items you picked up, you will lose control of the Kid for two seconds, making you unable to pick up the second one, thus failing the dupe. However, throughout the any% route we gain too much experience to not level up at all; therefore we have to manipulate the experience to either level up on the second core pick-up of a dupe, or somewhere else entirely.

However, manipulating experience is not that challenging, luckily! Simply go from level to level and don't go out of your way to get extra experience or extra kills, and you will naturally level up after the second core of Cinderbrick Fort. If you have trouble, watch some other players' runs to see where they get experience up to that point.