The standard route requires knowledge of how to perform the following glitches: [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#SOTN/Death_Skip|Death Skip]], [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#Faerie_Card_Shop_GlitchSOTN/Shop_Glitch|Faerie Card Shop Glitch]], [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#SOTN/Richter_Skip|Richter Skip]], and [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#SOTN/Relic_Skip|Relic Skip]]. You collect the following Relics, listed in order: Cube of Zoe, Form Soul of Wolf, Form of Mist, Faerie Card, and Soul of Bat.

The primary goals for the [[SOTN/Clock Rush |Clock Rush]] Section are as follows:*Perform [[SOTN/Death_Skip|Death Skip ]] to keep your starting equipment

*Obtain the Form Soul of Wolf Relic

From After the moment you gain control Prologue, and for the remainder of Richter in the Prologuegame, you play as Alucard. A few rooms into the run, you will come across a section where the game has an internal timer used tries to determine whether or not the statue in the upper-left corner of force you into a cutscene with the Clock Room is blocking your path. On odd minutes Grim Reaper (say, 7:00 through 7:59 or 9:00 through 9:59also known as Death), the statue will be blocking who steals your pathstarting equipment. On even minutes (sayIf you execute the [[SOTN/Death_Skip|Death Skip]] glitch, 8:00 through 8:59 or 10:00 through 10:59)however, the statue will be out you can bypass this cutscene and keep all of the way and the path will be open. This internal timer is not the same as your real-time timer used during a speedrunstarting equipment, as time spent in menus or looking at the map does not count towards which is some of the internal timer. However, if you spend little time looking at your map or strongest equipment in the menu, they will be closegame.

After the Prologue, and for the remainder of the game, you play as Alucard. A few rooms into the run, you will come across a section where the game tries to force you into a cutscene with the Grim Reaper (also known as Death), who steals your starting equipment. If you execute During the [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#Death_SkipSOTN/Clock Rush|Death SkipClock Rush]] glitch, however, you can bypass this cutscene and keep all of your starting equipment, which is some of the strongest equipment in the game. During the Clock Rush section, the goal is to make your way to the Outer Wall and obtain the Form Soul of Wolf Relic from the elevator shaft, use a wolf stair jump to reach a vase on a high-up ledge and break it to get a Garnet, and return to the Clock Room while the path is open. If you reach the Clock Room while the path is closed, you will be forced to wait until the statue moves out of the way to progress. For example, if you arrive at the Clock Room when the internal timer is at 7:50, you will have to wait 10 more seconds before the path opens up. Once you have the Form Soul of Wolf Relic and Garnet and are in the Clock Room with the path open, you can jump above the left candle, transform into Wolf in mid-air and untransform immediately while still above the candle. Doing this enables Alucard to then perform a dive-kick by holding Down and pressing Jump while still in the air. The goal is to bounce off of the candle, which will give you enough height to reach the open path.

*Purchase a Library Card (optional if you are attempting the [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#Wolf_Floor_ClipSOTN/Floor_Clip|Wolf Floor Clip]])

Upon entering the library, it is important not to enter the shop right away. Assuming you teleported in, the shop will be the room directly to your left. Instead, transform into Wolf and travel to the right until you reach a room with a large staircase and Book enemies flying about. Execute a [[SOTN/Book_Jump | Book Jump]] to reach a higher ledge to the upper left of this room that leads to a room containing the Faerie Card Relic. Do not enable the Relic right away.

Now, head back to just outside the Shop and execute the [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#Faerie_Card_Shop_GlitchSOTN/Shop_Glitch|Faerie Card Shop Glitch]]. This glitch will duplicate your Garnet, giving you 255 of them. Sell at least 102 104 of them (which will show as E3 E5 in the Sell Gem menu), and use this extra Gold to purchase 1 Manna Prism, 2 Buffalo Stars, and the Duplicator. You may also wish to purchase a Library Card unless you are going to attempt the Library Floor Clip in the upcoming section. Don't forget to equip the Duplicator, Manna Prism, and Buffalo Star as you get ready to leave the Shop. With the Duplicator, you can now use consumable items an infinite number of times.

Once you have the Soul of Bat, leave the Library as quickly as possible and make your way to the Outer Wall. The easier and recommended method is to teleport back near the shop using a Library Card, then proceed to Wing Smash your way to the Outer Wall. The much more difficult method is to execute the [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#Wolf_Floor_ClipSOTN/Floor_Clip|Wolf Floor Clip]], which if done perfectly can save a small amount of time. Whichever method you execute, once you find yourself at the Outer Wall, take the elevator to the top, then continue upward until you reach the entrance to the Clock Tower.

The Castle Keep section is the same section as from the Prologue with Richter, except now the staircase has fallen into ruin, leaving a gap you must fly over to enter the section where you will encounter the fight with Richter. During a normal playthrough of the game, you are expected to have the Holy Glasses at this point if you wish to be able to proceed to the Inverted Castle. In this category, however, the fastest routes all involve executing a glitch known as [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#SOTN/Richter_Skip|Richter Skip]] to avoid this check and proceed on to the Inverted Castle anyway.

After you teleport into the Inverted Castle, transform into Bat. Almost the entirety of this section will be spent in Bat form and involves chaining Wing Smashes together in long hallways and precise bat movement around and through enemies as you make your way through the Route. Along the way, you will encounter a fight with Medusa. Medusa is one of the bosses that drops a Relic that would ordinarily be required to complete the game, but since we will be performing the [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#SOTN/Richter_Skip|Richter Skip]] in the upcoming section, there is no need to collect it.

Once in the Black Marble Gallery, make your way to the Clock Room, then proceed right past the Giant enemies and upward to a ledge that is just to the right of a Save Room. This ledge is where you will perform the [[Castlevania:_Symphony_of_the_Night:Glitches#SOTN/Relic Skip|Relic Skip]]. Once you have successfully executed the glitch, equip Buffalo Stars in both your hand slots and take the lift up into Dracula's chambers. After exiting the lift, fly up and around the barriers and drop into Dracula's chambers to begin the fight with Shaft. Position yourself along the left wall and alternate using both Buffalo Stars while jumping to finish Shaft as quickly as possible.

== Slogra and Gaibon Double Kill ==As part of learning the :* '''[[SOTN/Experience_Route | Experience Route (see below), you will want to master a technique known as the double kill. This technique takes advantage of the fact that XP calculations are based on Alucard]]'''s current level, and you can maximize the amount of XP you get from fighting two enemies by killing them both on the exact same frame. This technique can be used on Slogra and Gaibon during an Any% run to maximize the amount of XP you get from the fight, which is beneficial for the Experience Route as it allows you to skip level ups (and thereby skipping their accompanying animations) during a run. Slogra and Gaibon both start out near one another, with Slogra on the ground and Gaibon in the air above and behind Slogra. The easiest way to secure a double kill is to kill them within the first few seconds of their appearance, as once their attack patterns begin it will become a lot harder to execute a successful double kill as they move around a lot. During a typical speedrun, you will be level 2 when you arrive at this fight and it will take exactly four strikes with the Alucard Sword to kill each of them. The goal is to make sure your fourth hit on both Slogra and Gaibon are the result of the same strike. Your sword can strike twice in a row in a single swing, so it is important to consider that when learning how to approach the fight. You will also want to prioritize having as many of your attacks hit them simultaneously so that your damage to them stays in sync. If you accidentally miss one of them in an attack, it is possible to adjust for that and still finish the fight with a successful double kill. There are multiple approaches one can take to this fight that will work, so you will want to study the top runs and learn how Slogra and Gaibon behave. It is advisable to make a save state in the room before this fight to practice it until you have a good fight pattern that works for you memorized. {{#ev:youtube|X7L0Ww13yxE | 480}}{{* '''[[SOTN/Double_Kill#ev:youtubeSlogra_and_Gaibon_Double_Kill |bqoZIhu5pGM | 480}} == Experience Route ==*3 zombies*all 3 skeletons in the first room of alchemy lab*one green axe lord in the spittlebone room ===Slogra and Gaibon Double Kill=== *all 3 flea men*everything in the long hallway*one blue axe knight*fast route with sub 8 clock rush**kill everything in the outer wall**kill sword lord once**everything in the long hallway*playstation / emulator route**skip blue axe knight and spear guard**everything in the long hallway**kill first blade master**everything in the long hallway ===No Double Kill=== *all 3 flea men*fast route with sub 8 clock rush**everything in the long hallway**kill both blue axe knights**kill everything in the outer wall**kill sword lord once**everything in the long hallway*playstation / emulator route**skip dipplos before dopple**skip both blue axe knights**skip blue axe knight and spear guard**kill all 3 bone muskets**everything in the long hallway**kill first blade master**everything in the long hallway]]'''