HMC route

This document contains the speedrun route for Helen's Mysterious Castle. The good and bad ending routes are similar for most of the game, with differences noted in [square brackets, like so]. This assumes a basic familiarity with the game for where certain items are located, and I have included a few alternate strategies for certain sections. HP values are noted for bosses where it matters: usually, these are either killed by exact damage or have one smaller hit to just barely take a win, though a couple are noted because they just barely survive an otherwise much faster approach.

Google Doc guide:
Bad Ending: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LWfIx6tkdb9v03mgcVE-zMAUrqMKIEclLCLYzjF1DSA/
Good Ending: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mM0XesI2NpkJidlYf8sWo8DJPSOCRm9mROfDScH1gtY/


Game start:
	Get Longbow and HP+, get shield and heal, get HP+ in castle.
	Longbow to +1 for Goblin
		Longbow, Shield until Great Swing, Longbow, Longbow
	Obtain the Longsword and kill the Orc by the HP+.
	Longsword to +2 for Skeletons
		Longsword, Longsword
		Kill the extra Goblin for 3 XP.
	Longsword to +3 for the Golem.

Golem:
	Thunder, Shield, Thunder, Sword.
	Heal, get the Broadsword, then the HP+.

Griffin:
	BBBBBTBBBTT: looks like suicide, but saves one round.
	5 Broadsword Thunder 3 Broadsword 2 Thunder
		Backup: end with TBT instead of TT if he uses claw instead of wind. At worst, it's even.
		Eat the steaks after the cutscene.

Town:
	Heal up, then top center house to talk to the girl.
	Smash the upper left pot in the dungeon house for 58 Max HP.
	Level the Longsword to +5 and swap it with the bow.
	Kill 5 harpies on the way to the heal spell- ignore all other enemies.
	Suicide on the Demon. [GE: Eat the steak after spawning.]
	Go to the mayor's house, talk to the girl 3 times, and leave.
	Back to the blacksmith to heal his wife and the key trigger.

Longsword:
	Total XP required: 179 = 13 more harpies. (heal after 4 and 8)
	Longsword x2 kills a harpy guaranteed.
	Grab the key from the blacksmith and get the LongswordSP!
		[For good ending, you will need 60 more XP beyond what the forced fights give.]
		[I suggest 2 Demon area foes, 1 Wild Monkey, 2 Harpy SPs and 2 Homunculus]
		[These give 6x2, 9, 10x2 and 10x2 XP, respectively, totalling 61.]
		[If you fight a Demon, skip 1 Wild Monkey.]
		[Adjust as necessary for more or less XP- it's all needed before Zack]

Demon Preparations...
	Run back through the shortcut and pose for the Demon Lord.
	Go downstairs and into the center room- dialogue time.
	Up, left, and warp.

Lord of Silence:
	Left side, left door. Heal before the boss and run in the library!
	BOSS fight:
		Longsword, Broadsword, Longsword, Shield, Longsword, Longsword.
	Run back the same way, break left pot.

Lord of Poison: (125 HP)
	Break the pot to reach 65/66 HP before warping.
	Take the zigzaggy path through the poison.
	Thunder+2, heal to full and swap heal with the shield. (12 XP)
		Selection should look like this:
			LongswordSP	Heal
			Longbow+1	Thunder+2
			Broadsword	Wood Shield
	BOSS fight:
		Alternate Thunder and Longsword until dead.
	Run back the same way.

Lord of Darkness:
	Go right first, weave through the dark hallways. (hug the right wall)
	BOSS fight:
		Mindlessly attack. This is getting boring.
	Run back the same way.

Lord of Paralysis:
	Go left, run down and through, push the block.
	Lure the lower lizardman onto the button: way faster than paralysis.
	BOSS fight:
		Mindlessly attack and take 0 damage again.

Demon King:
	Take the center warp, do the door puzzle for the Speed Shoes.
	Down, right, right, up. Heal and save here.
	BOSS fight:
		Mindlessly attack and hope to avoid double Darkness.

Hanging Gardens:
	Break all seen pots in this segment.
	Run down and to the right to warp.
	Stairs, heal (skip for risky play), statue.
	Run forward and around, trying to go down/left and then down/right.
	Down, right fork. [On a good ending run, take the shortcut to the house and emerge]
	Secret path forward, 4th window, down to the basement.
	[For good ending, kill the minotaur here if running low on XP]
	Proceed forwards and save before Soul Cage.

Bosses:
	Soul Cage:
		Sword, Bow, Sword, Sword, heal (if below 25 HP) and save afterwards.
	Undead Knight: (214 HP)
		Select ? to skip his lengthy speech.
		Longsword x4, Longbow to finish him.
		Freezing Yasha is blocked and Burning Agony never gets going.
	Then, cutscenes happen.
	Grab Burning Agony and break the barrier!
	Run forward, talk to the griffin, and cutscenes.
	Run back up after the cutscenes.
	[Good ending: Get Wrath of Zeus from the double stair room.]
	Trek out on foot, healing at the post-golem well. (remember that?)
	Finally, enter the lab in the house.

Ardis' Lab:
	[Good ending: Break the pot on the right for 81 HP]
	[Good ending: Wrath of Zeus to +8 and swap with Thunder]
	[Bad ending: Break the pot behind Zack for 80 HP]
	[Bad ending: Level Thunder to +8]

Zack: (136 HP)
	[Bad ending: Longbow, Thunder, Longsword, Longsword, Shield, Longsword]
	[Good ending: Longbow, Zeus, Longsword, Longsword]

Endgame:
	[For bad ending, re-climb the tower after the cutscenes and ride the griffin out.]
	[Timing stops when the fade finishes.]

Good ending:
	After the cutscene finishes, take the back entrance.
	Heal to full and max the Heal spell.
	Navigate through the gardens towards Burning Agony.

BOSS RUSH:
	Krace: (280 HP)
		Zeus, Zeus, Sword, Heal, Sword, Sword, Bow
			Backup for triple Zeus: Heal, Sword, Sword.
	Hydra: (300 HP)
		Spam Darkness.
	Dragon Knight: (150 HP)
		Spam Drain.
	Quetzalcotl: (300 HP)
		Zeus, Spike, Spike, Zeus, then react based on next attack:
			Bite: Zeus, Spike, Kugel (If another Bite follows, you die. I haven't seen this happen)
			Breath: Heal, Zeus, Heal, Kugel, Spike
	Krace... again: (442 HP)
		Zeus, Zeus, Sword, Heal, Zeus, Heal, Zeus, Heal, Zeus, Heal, Zeus, Heal, Zeus, Zeus!
		Zeus, Zeus, Sword, alternate Heal and Zeus until Curse #2, then Zeus again.

Finally, the ending!:
	Cutscenes, back at the pub, run through the gold area and back to the house.
	Re-ascend to the top of Ardis' Lab.
	Talk to Ardis, skip the dialogue and end timing on the fadeout!