SOTN/Clock Rush

Clock Rush

For several of the categories of SOTN, including the main one, the first part of the run centers around what is referred to as the Clock Rush. In the Clock Rush, the player will gather key items and Relics and return to the Clock Room. If the player has a way to initiate a Dive Kick (typically by acquiring the Wolf Relic), they will be able to Dive Kick off the candle on the left side of the room while the statue is open and enter Olrox's Quarters.

Clock Cycles

From the moment you gain control of Richter in the Prologue, the game has an internal timer used to determine whether or not the statue in the upper-left corner of the Clock Room is blocking your path. On odd minutes (say, 7:00 through 7:59 or 9:00 through 9:59), the statue will be blocking your path. On even minutes (say, 8:00 through 8:59 or 10:00 through 10:59), the statue will be out of the way and the path will be open. This internal timer is not the same as your real-time timer used during a speedrun, as time spent in menus or looking at the map does not count towards the internal timer. However, if you minimize the time spent looking at your map or in the menu, they will be close.

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.

Maria Cutscene

When you first arrive in the Clock Room, a cutscene with Maria will play, and you may notice that the path is open, and then the statue moves and closes the path. This behavior is part of the cutscene that always plays and does not correlate to the in-game timer that determines whether or not the path will be open.