25

Starting on March 29th, I have been going hard on 14 Talisman with the goal being a sub 26 minute speedrun. On day 1 back to the category, I beat my previous PB of 27:09 from 2015 by 12 seconds, landing my first sub 27 minute run of the category. Since then, I've slowly chipped away at my time, bringing it down to what is currently a 26:22. A previous PB of mine, the 26:28, failed swim in air in Winter Tundra. I am capable of much better than I have.

Throughout my grind, I have become very familiar with the category, more than I was able to say about Spyro 1 Any%. This being said, I am often able to predict to the decimal where I will be after a split. I also know what kind of pace I should be on if I want to get a 25:xx. On April 18th, I created a set of splits for me to run against. You will see at the top of my splits the comparison I am using, and it will be titled "Goal Pace".

The point of these splits is to not let a skewed PB discourage me from continuing a capable run, among other mental reasons. If I can stay ahead throughout the splits I've conducted, I should have no problem closing out a 25:xx. Major checkpoints throughout the run are as follows:

Sunny Beach: 5:35
Crystal Glacier: 10:00
Shady Oasis: 20:00
Ripto's Arena: 25:59

With these splits, I have a fairly lenient endgame to allow mistakes or bad luck. I have 23 seconds to save after Shady Oasis.

My fastest time through Shady Oasis is 19:28, the video can be found here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/138984418

This being said, an ideal time for myself in this category would actually be a 25:2x or better. I am very capable of a run of this caliber, but I won't be going for it during this grind. I've got other Spyro goals and TNR stuff to work on. Keeping this in mind, I realize that even if I meet my goal of a 25:59, I will NOT be satisfied with it. There could be any number of mistakes throughout the run, and I could still get this time. I could fail Hurricos clip, slow turtle proxy, deaths on Crystal Glacier or Zephyr, bad luck on Gulp's Overlook, sloppy Winter Tundra, anything. I need to prepare myself for feeling a hole where a good run should be. I will not play further after achieving the 25, so please don't let me if I try.

Post 25 plans:
Spyro 2		14 Talisman No DJ		for		30:xx
Spyro 2		All Life Bottles		for 	fun
Spyro 2		Any% No Boss Skips		for 	improvement

My best times for 14 Talisman are listed in column D on this spreadsheet table: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zOtCXMHkYWcW8DwqA_aSpM8TbJpPCWaGF0DLDO81GR8/edit#gid=1384191039