AoS/Baselard manip

The Baselard manip is a manip to obtain the Baselard weapon drop from a Zombie in the first corridor after starting the game. The Baselard is useful because of its high base damage compared to all other weapons available early on in the game.

Cutscene skip version

This is the standard version of Baselard manip, performed at the beginning of every standard route for non-NG+ Soma categories. It requires having beaten the game once in order to be able to skip the intro cutscene, which would otherwise make RNG calls.

1. Slash 3 times anywhere in the first room.
2. After the door closes, short hop and throw a spear anywhere on the slope to kill the first Zombie. The timing of the first spear throw doesn't matter much as long as the first Zombie dies.
3. At the middle of the pyramid-shaped pile of bricks in the background, roughly when the front of Soma's head touches the dark vertical line separating the top two bricks, short hop and immediately throw a second spear.
4. As soon as you land from the hop, quickly hop again and throw a third spear at the edge of the brick pile.
5. The farthest Zombie should die to the third spear just before the closer Zombie dies to the second spear, which should drop the Baselard.

For the Any% and All Bosses categories where gaining XP early on is important, it can be useful to also throw a fourth spear when Soma's head touches the edge of the column in the background, potentially killing one or two Zombies which always spawn there. An earlier throw will kill one Zombie, whereas a later throw will kill both. Too late of a throw will miss both.

Troubleshooting

You can hold up+right the entire time to make the inputs for walking and throwing the spears simpler.

If the closer Zombie doesn't die from your second spear because the spear vanished, that means you threw it too early from too far left of the bricks pile midway line.

Similarly, if the closer Zombie doesn't die from your second spear landed because it landed too far to the right of it and missed, that means you threw it too late from too far right of the bricks pile midway line.

If both Zombies die but no Baselard drops, it's because your third spear throw was too late and the farther Zombie didn't die on the first possible frame.

Video tutorial

by Chewy4u