The Oracles Protip List

This is a list of non-obvious speedrunning tips for the Oracle games, particularly things that you may not notice just from watching runs.

* Keys fall from the top of the screen. Before the key spawns, scroll the screen down as far as possible to bring it closer to the floor.
* Wall clipping, as in LADX, is a thing. By walking into a wall from the side, you can clip 2 pixels into a wall above you, or 1 pixel for any other direction. You can also wall clip by running into a wall with pegasus seeds (with a good subpixel). Applications:
  * Saving frames for movement optimization
  * Rooster Clip in seasons
  * Using the cane of somaria through a wall on the left or right side
* "Fadein" transitions can be skipped by opening a menu. Particularly in many sidescrolling rooms, this can be abused to get early cycles, since the platforms won't get a head-start. Also, in general, routing equips in these parts can save about half a second each time.
* When throwing a bomb, Link becomes immobilized for a short period. By tapping the bomb button a second time, you regain control of Link immediately. Alternatively, pressing the power bracelet can also cancel the immobilization.
  * The same applies to the slingshot?
  * Something similar happens when throwing items with the bracelet, except that the immobilization gets canceled simply by holding the button down for more than a frame, meaning it's practically automatic. HOWEVER, Link does stop for a frame; so, if possible, carry the object into a loading trigger instead of throwing it.
* Whenever you jump, the next screen transition will have a delay of 4 frames (best known for messing up HSS skip). So, it's best not to jump for no reason if you have the feather equipped, unless you've already jumped once on that screen. This does not apply to warp tiles such as doors and stairs.
* While a keydoor is opening, you have a few "free" frames where Link is uselessly pushing against the door. You can use this time to move closer to the side of the door you want to be on.
* Diagonal inputs in sidescrolling sections are ignored when you're not on a ladder, meaning you should hold up/left or up/right as you approach a ladder to begin climbing on the first possible frame. The diagonal input does not cause a speed penalty.

JUMPING MECHANICS

* You can jump out of magnet gloves by releasing the gloves on the same frame as inputting a jump (assuming the magnet is actually moving Link toward/away from something).
* During the "falling" half of a jump, when moving toward or away from something with magnet gloves, Link's jumping speed gets added to his magnet glove speed. These can add together or work against each other. The direction buttons appear to still influence his jumping speed even while the magnet is active.

BOMB JUMPS

* Bombs are offset 1 pixel in the direction Link is facing. Keep this in mind, because it can cause the bomb to be off-center with Link.
* When buffering bomb jumps with the old method (bomb on ground instead of in hand), there are four frames you can jump on: the last two frames of the final red flash, and the first two frames of the explosion. The red flash lasts for 4 frames, so if you've had 3 frames on the red flash, you're safe to jump.

SEASONS BOSSES

* Aquamentus: If you're not using an RNG manip, you can prevent his charge attack by standing behind him (behind his "centerpoint").
* Omuai: When picking up the squids, if you drop them without inputting any direction on the d-pad, they will fall to the ground more quickly, and so be killed quicker. You may still prefer to throw them towards the other squids to move closer to them, but at least for the last one, you should drop it while you're not moving so it can be killed more quickly.

AGES BOSSES

* Armos Warrior: His movement in the second phase isn't random; every 1.5 seconds, he checks if he's moving toward his sword; if his movement vector and the vector to his sword differ by less than 90 degrees, he reverses direction. If you mess up the setup, you can use this knowledge to try to predict his movement.
* Blue Stalfos: Each time he moves, he chooses one of the four quadrants of the screen. If he moves to the same quadrant as Link, he will attack with his sickle, wasting time. This can be avoided by always standing in the same quadrant as him, because he never moves back to the same quadrant.

MENUING

* When selecting a warp point, use both right/down or up/left to select the destination more quickly.