no lc segmented run description

QUICK ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS:
1. no, this is not close to perfect
2. many of these are not viable RTA
3. the splices are necessary because of unlocks, it doesn't matter if it's jarring
4. weapon order/quick switch consistency is not a consideration
5. the ice mod eliminates death animations which saves a significant amount of time in spawning enemy waves

This segmented has been in progress/planning for over two years, but a majority of the segments were done in August 2020. It's the culmination of a ton of strat development, and other than the five runners (isaki, muckemannen, Franzcorr, fireproofnas, mobius) special thanks goes to danmcd, Ricky, Skritler, Skitz, Cyprys, SnEE and Flare for their ideas being utilised in several levels throughout the run.

A quick play-by-play of what's going on in the run -

1// Qualification
This is a fairly straightforward segment. Prior to the run we set up 'Clankless', which skips the starting dialogue and tutorial with Clank via finishing the tutorial and switching to third person mode before saveloading. The Dual Vipers' ricochet kills all the enemies in the first room, and the second combat section is self-explanatory.

2// Advanced Qualifier
This strat is most likely not possible in RTA. The bots respawn next to you consistently on a 10 second timer, as long as you're next to standable ground - therefore the goal is to get to the final platform in 10 seconds. The first arena is skipped by a flail cancel, which allows you to conserve high momentum straight into a jump, and then further on we exploit 'hyperstacking' which is a mechanic that enables multiple hyperstrikes in midair via entering the control options menu, and then cancelling out. Finally, there is a respawn warp used by landing on the front side of the gap between the two later combat sections, immediately teleporting you to the turret. Done quick enough, the bots immediately spawn by your side and can fire off an EMP, saving 10 seconds.

3// Valley of Heroes
Simple traversal stage. The quickest possible beeline to the end of the stage is used here.

4// On the Prowl
Very similar to Valley of Heroes. The Supernova is switched to at the end of the stage in order to enable a strat in the next level.

5// All Aboard the Landstalker
In the intro cutscene, you're able to fire the Supernova, which immediately breaks the first orb on the wall. From here, sidestepping as the Landstalker is faster than merely walking, and using the mortars is quicker than using the turret on the orbs. It is possible to go faster here in an IL setting, but utilising the Supernova is generally a lot more consistent and less laggy.

6// Rise Up
This segment had to be re-recorded close to the run's release, so it isn't as optimised as it could be. We are bottlenecked by the different spawn models of the robot zombies, only some of which allow you to kill them with the flail while still entirely in the ground. Ideally every zombie spawns with the same model and is quickly killed as soon as they spawn, but that is phenomenally unlikely to occur. A 21 RTA is possible with a significant investment of time and effort.

7// Alien Soil
The route we take at the beginning ensures the bots will respawn next to Ratchet after 10 seconds, and the position locks them onto the hacker orbs immediately. From there we can take our time using the Mine Launcher, which allows us to clip into the door and position well for the completion of the hacking segment, which spawns the enemies on the right (which their deaths in turn spawn the dropship that ends the stage once destroyed).

8// Sarathos Sprint
Hyperstacking to the terrain on the other side of the level is quicker than taking the 'intended' route, despite all of the menuing.

9// Where the Leviathans Roam
Similar to Sarathos Sprint. A Wrench Slope Intercept is used to allow us to jump on the slanted wall and charge down to the end trigger.

10// King of the Leviathans
An autoscroller. Once the bots have finished hacking the orbs we immediately fire into the ground to kill the boss leviathan.

11// Infiltrate the Cathedral
Another example of trying to ensure the bots respawn with us as we land on the final hacker ray platform. The traversal to this point is reasonably precise, but easily possible in RTA.

12// Introducing Shellshock
This is the only mission that has a cutscene mid-level, so a fresh file is used. The Supernova makes quick work of Shellshock, allowing us to stay up on the top edge of the arena to destroy the dropships as they spawn + the enemies on the ground which spawn the last wave of boxes.

13// Enemies Are Such a Grind
Here we use a front-on mine clip and exploit the fact that slightly touching the wall drops mines as if you're at a standstill. A second one is used in lieu of a potentially faster (but currently unreplicably precise) flail cancel that bypasses the need for it - there's likely room for improvement on this stage because of that. The final gap is crossed by a flail cancel hyperstrike, which has been used previously to get further distance before starting hyperstacks, but here negates the need for a slow hyperstack or a flail cancel double jump that loses speed.

14// Infiltrate the Cathedral, Part 2
This is similar to the first part in that we're working with the bot respawn timers to happen right as we stand next to the hacker orbs. Here at the beginning we hyperstack to trigger the elevator's 'down' function before killing all of the enemies that would normally cause it to lower, saving a few seconds.

15// Shellshock Returns!
This is the first IL WR specifically set in the making of this run. The time had stayed at 0:17 and was considered a maxed-out time due to a few factors - firstly, Shellshock will only spawn when you + the bots are past a certain point, and the bots can't go any faster. Secondly, Shellshock always takes a specific line out of the arena before despawning. Thirdly, the boxes that spawn the final wave of enemies drop at random times (after set intervals when their spawn requirement is fulfilled), meaning the final time is at the mercy of whether the boxes will drop quickly or not. In this run all of the boxes spawn as fast as possible - the first box's quick drop speeds up the final three boxes' spawn time, and they all promptly quick drop as well, creating a very unlikely perfect run that happens to be 0:16. The mechanics behind enemy box drop spawns also influence how quick later arena segments are as well, so it's important to keep this in mind when they are mentioned.

16// Fight to the Cathedral
Simple traversal section. A double charge has been theorised to hit the end quicker, but all signs point to it being impossible to work as of right now.

17// Showdown with Shellshock
Again we are at the mercy of the bot respawn timers. Initially we skip the first phase of Shellshock by not going far enough into the room to spawn him. By giving ourselves neutral sliding momentum at a specific point before hitting the first wall, we are able to have enough speed to go barely underneath the wall as it does not extend entirely into the mud. From there we can clip into the final room, allow the bots to spawn, and then skip to Shellshock's final phase as the requirements for it have been fulfilled.

18// Manic Speed Demon
The first half of this stage requires arena knowledge to kill the correct enemies and immediately pivot to the next dropship/wave as soon as possible. Once the final dropship has been killed, the boxes will start to drop. There is potential for a few frames to be saved on these box drops, as they weren't as fast as they theoretically could be, but even after many hours of trying it seemed near-impossible to get a 23 on this stage.

19// The Tower of Power
The beginning is reminiscent of Advanced Qualifier, but once getting to the second large platform three swarmers are killed on the right to spawn the dropship, which is promptly sniped, and then the flail is used to kill the reapers which spawns the platforms in order to immediately transition to movement over to the final section. The spawns of the swarmers are slightly random, but this was a solid attempt which implemented the riskier/faster neutral cancels well.

20// Climb the Tower of Power
Immediately, a flail cancel saves a cycle on the flaming platforms. From there the movement aims to skip another cycle on the third set of flaming platforms, taking the most direct path upwards. We're able to then take a little bit of time setting up flail cancels to the falling platforms (blind ones don't save enough time to skip another further cycle), which then brings us to the final flaming platform on a proper cycle. Killing on big enemy on top spawns the first dropship -> first dropship spawns second dropship -> second dropship spawns swarmer wave off the side -> 8 swarmer deaths spawn the last boxes, and both of those being destroyed ends the stage. This cycle saves around 6 seconds over what many aim for in RTA. After the cutscene for the new suit, a precise pause can skip the transition back to the Containment Suite and immediately take us to Shaar.

21// Return to the Deathbowl
A direct beeline is taken to the end of level trigger.

22// Landstalker Stalkin'
This is a complex stage that would usually require a level restart in runs to execute the proper bot respawn timer/enemy layout, but here that has been omitted. The first bolt is triggered barely as we become level with it, and then Ratchet pivots to the second one in the wasteland, activating it after 10 seconds have passed - we bank on this bot not dying, and clip through the wall to the temple section so that the first bot respawns next to us as we approach the third crank. Once the cutscene occurs that turns off the barrier, the second bot spawns beside us and we opt to turn the final crank ourselves just to speed it up. Due to the laser backs, it is nearly impossible to turn the crank without getting hit, so omnishields are a necessity. Despite getting hit once on this attempt, the bot conveniently dies at a point that speeds up the attempt by making Ratchet stay still and avoid the laser back fire anyway while still turning the bolt.

23// As the Wrench Turns
Another example of bot respawn timers being in play. Regrouping the first bot on the stairs makes it ignore the enemy and take the first wrench crank quicker. After the third wrench crank is queued up, we must wait to allow the first bot to spawn at a point that syncs up with the fifth crank's completion time.

24// Labyrinth of Death
By queuing up the hacker orbs on the opposite side of the door we don't unlock, we can hack them through the wall and satisfy the requirement for the level to complete. I'm not really sure why the clip works.

25// Node Overload
This level banks on the bots pathing being correct and going over obstacles. We have to stand somewhat near the bolts to ensure they latch on to them quickly, which allows them to respawn at roughly the right position for their second bolt to turn. It's very difficult to optimise this stage due to dozens of things that can go wrong, so it looks much slower than it really is - compared to regular RTA.

26// Refinery Ambush
See King of the Leviathans. Autoscroller based on hacking all orbs.

27// Chains of Villainy
The Supernova immediately destroys orbs, but requires line-of-sight to work. The goal is to barely enter line of sight before moving on as quick as possible (and making sure the refire cooldown time syncs with when we actually need to fire the nova).

28// Static Deathtrap
This arena requires enemy spawn position knowledge only until the final wave, where only the DZ Troopers must die to end the stage. Generally they spawn in the back left and right in the arena, so we set up there beforehand and bank on those ones immediately dying as we use the last of our mines in the lower-middle of the arena.

29// Marathon
Beelining directly to the second node is necessary to beat the bot respawn timer, which involves the most difficult forward mine clip in the run. The bots spawn relatively close to the nodes, which means the second bot will respawn in time for us to turn the fourth node ourselves. Because of that, the Ravager is used to clear the final platform which usually requires mines to ensure you don't get hit while turning.

30// Reactor Battle
Reactor has multiple hitboxes, so we exploit that by cancelling into a Supernova shot into hyperstrike that damages him multiple times, and finishing him before he gets away. We cannot pause to skip the transition back to the Containment Suite here.

31// Lost and Found
The goal is to minimise hyperstacks, so a risky strat is used to hit the slanted side of the second asteroid in less stacks than normal. From here we don't need to use any further stacks provided we navigate the invisible terrain correctly, and then beeline to the final bolt crank.

32// Space Ace
This run is technically slower than the IL WR by 1 second, but due to the immense difficulty of achieving it + the reduced lag in this attempt vs WR, it ends up being a comparable time overall. All spawn positions are within a certain range, but which enemies spawn where are completely randomised, which means all runs require on-the-fly thinking.

33// Power Up!
This run is comparable to RTA, but uses forward mine clips to save time instead of side-facing ones.

34// Let the Light Shine Through
Immediately we see our first instance of midair charges, a 1-frame trick that allows you to recharge after a flail has finished. This skips the hyperstacks used in RTA to cross the massive gap to the elevator. From here it's mostly standard beelining to the bolt crank.

35// Hoverbike or Bust
The goal is to trigger EMPs as soon as possible -> destroy turrets on first frame -> initiate hacking with both bots to speed up the process. They can then respawn right next to the second turret and repeat, etc etc.

36// Seek and Destroy
Normally this would require a mission restart in RTA to bring the drones closer to you at the beginning, but this is omitted in the run for speed. A precise rocket kills the five remaining first-wave drones all at once - then once we move into the zone that spawns more enemies, we fire a second rocket to kill them all as well.

37// The Turn On
A specific route is taken here to ensure the bots trail us correctly, and delay the second bot's respawn until it's far away enough to require it. Then, we take a direct line to the final crank, using the turret's slanted surface to boost our jump and land up there to allow Ratchet to turn it himself.

38// Blast of Fresh Air
To manipulate the bots, we get one stuck behind a pillar which forces it to respawn later on. Standing in a particular spot also freaks out the first bot's AI, making it speed along to where it should actually be at a far greater pace than normal. From there all charges are placed and the countdown timer is waited out.

39// Murphy's Law
This is a self-explanatory combat arena involving cycling weapons.

40// Air Drop
This is an autoscroller that cannot be skipped.

41// Eviscerator Battle
Like the other bosses, Eviscerator has multiple hitboxes, but damages you on contact in addition to also immediately turning to an invuln phase once its health goes below a certain amount. This can be skipped by jumping off the ledge as it is supposed to occur, which cancels all of its actions into a taunt animation. A perfect combination of damage, including a well timed hyperstrike, allows for a very quick kill.

42// Junking the Jammers
Like with All Aboard the Landstalker, sidesteps are used to traverse the stage quicker while hitting the jammers with 'flick' mortar shots. The final four are different - the first one is destroyed by the blast radius of the mortars, the middle two are locked onto, and the last is also destroyed with a blast radius. This run ended up being the IL WR.

43// Energy Collector
Waiting at the beginning is necessary for the bots to climb up high enough to latch onto the bolt without getting stuck underneath the platform. The first respawn timer conveniently spawns the second bot at the second bolt. The first bot finishes the first bolt while we're on the rail and goes onto the third bolt itself. The fourth bolt is turned by Ratchet, which is risky, but works out quicker than waiting for the second bot to come towards the bolt.

44// Shields Up!
Going directly down and using regroup while latching onto the first orb gives the bot a very long latch radius for some reason. The bots travel different directions to save time overall.

45// Shield Survival
A mostly self-explanatory arena segment - the B6 shot fired kills the final part of the second wave and allows us to be in prime position for the final wave.

46// Jail Break
Instead of a wrench SI, a forward facing mine clip to go through the gate instead of over is faster.

47// Total Control
After hitting the second crank, charging towards the third node and finish is not only faster, but allows for more time to position for the perfect bot spawn location. The spawns in this level are planned out to roll into one bolt crank immediately after another. At the end, a completely new glitch involving Ratchet ignoring the door hitbox during the cutscene is utilised to walk right into the end of level trigger. This was purely accidental and resulted in a new IL WR as well.

48// Leave No Man Behind
A mine clip skips to the second half of the level right away. Following that is a difficult strat that exploits Ratchet's changed gravity to get an extra jump off flat walls. The ceiling isn't fully solid, meaning Ratchet can walk through and charge down to the end of level trigger immediately.

49// Showdown in Delta Block
Despite all of the arena combat, this is just a simple traversal stage which can be bypassed by a mine clip. A momentum stored double jump makes the distance, but a midair charge was also used in routing to examine the other possibilities of getting through the door quicker.

50// Swarmer Surprise
This is a self-explanatory combat arena involving two forced weapons. The B6 section is at the mercy of box drop timings as well as blade ball spawn positions, but it worked out well for this run.

51// Accelerator
This is a complex arena segment that is heavily gated by box drop timings and zombie robot spawns, making it near impossible to perfectly optimise. Despite that, this is the best recorded time for the segment, which is satisfactory enough for such a frustrating level.

52// Ace Hardlight Battle
This is identical to Reactor Battle in concept.

53// The Grinding Chase
No, this is not actually possible RTA because more speed mods are used for this attempt, but the cool factor of two midair charges directly into the trigger cannot be understated.

54// Running the Gauntlet
This is a beeline to the end of level trigger.

55// Prison Break
This stage looks slow, but due to the tight corners and magramps it's difficult to get proper charges off. The final room is cheesed by using a rocket to destroy all of the monitors but one, using a quickswitch to rifle to destroy instead.

56// Escape
Like Space Ace, this is not as fast as the IL WR, but it is frustratingly hard to match and not worth the fraction of a second it would save.

57// Destroy the East Generator
A flail cancel immediately transfers into a Wrench SI to climb over the invisible wall, and then exiting through a small crack in the wall brings us fully out of bounds and able to hyperstack up to the generator room. The slanted pipe is used to gain a little more height. The bot positions are 'bad', but better positions have not netted a faster time, curiously.

58// Destroy the West Generator
To ensure we're meeting the right bot respawn cycles, forward mine clips are used to get to the elevator as soon as possible. Similarly to East Generator, we use a Wrench SI and climb the doorframe, but instead dropping down onto the solid second layer of it and charging out of bounds straight to the generator. Despite getting hit on the climb, it did not affect the bot cycles.

59// Destroy the Central Core
This doorframe climb and subsequent out of bounds needs a specific momentum in order to thread the needle between many solid layers. The charge following that needs to be at a small range of angles to make it over to the turret room in one hyperstrike. We then have 10 seconds to position ourselves in a spot in the final room that spawns the bots directly at the charges without breaking their pathing AI. This attempt was an IL WR as well.

60// Defeat Gleeman Vox
To speed up the beginning of the second phase, a flail cancel is performed to cross the gap immediately and the second phase is forced via doing enough damage, while also speeding up the laser attack time by grazing alongside it. A Supernova shot caps off the run!