SOTN/Alucard Any% NSC Blindfolded

Introduction to SOTN Alucard Blindfolded Any% NSC

Background about the category

The first known completed blindfolded run of SOTN was Romscout's 53:41 in 2016. It pioneered many of the basic movement strategies of the category, and proved that a blindfolded run was possible in the first place. Romscout's 53:41 presents the original route for the category, but the rest of this guide uses an alternate route, detailed below.

Overview

Because of the nature of this run, the sections have been broken up by save rooms. This has been done so that the route is easier to practice, and so that run-ending mistakes can be corrected during a run by loading the most recent save.

The primary challenges during a Blindfolded run are memorization, keeping track of where you are in a room and in the castle, and dealing with randomness in enemy patterns. The route detailed below takes advantage of numerous sound cues and normalization setups to control for randomness and minor input error as much as possible. There are still a few sections and tricks that require frame perfect or near-frame perfect inputs, however.

Before you attempt a full blindfolded run, it can be helpful to practice each segment without a blindfold at first, but still utilizing the blindfolded moveset. After getting familiar with the segment this way, you can then attempt it with a blindfold on. It can also be very helpful to record your blindfolded attempts, so you can review your run afterward and learn from any mistakes or unusual situations you encounter.

Since you will not be able to visually confirm anything during a run, the accuracy and feel of the controller used for input can matter a great deal, so it is very important that you find a controller that is reliable, but not overly sensitive to accidental inputs.

Basic Moveset

Due to the constraints of the category, visual confirmation of the player's position is not possible, and a normalized set of moves is needed. What follows are a list of basic maneuvers referenced throughout the rest of this guide that change the player's position by fixed amounts. Most areas can be navigated through a specific combination of these movements with relative ease.

Dash

Not to be confused with Shield Dashing, which can alter Alucard's horizontal position by slightly-varying amounts, A simple Dash will always cause Alucard to move by a fixed amount. If Alucard is facing left, a Dash will cause him to move to the right, and vice versa.

On level ground with no objects to collide with, Alucard will travel exactly 50.75 pixels (the fractional portion is stored as subpixels) horizontally after performing an uninterrupted dash.

NOTE: Because the distance Alucard travels during a Dash includes subpixels, and two full dashes are exactly half a pixel less than one full jump, Alucard's distance can be adjusted by half a pixel in either direction on flat ground using a combination of dashes and jumps. This is utilized both during the Death Skip and Relic Skip setup to get Alucard into proper position.

Pivot

When you need to change Alucard's facing without altering his horizontal position, the safest way to do so is to crouch by holding DOWN, then lean left or right by moving the D-Pad to diagonal DOWN and LEFT or diagonal DOWN and RIGHT.

Jump

Throughout this guide, unless otherwise stated, a jump left or jump right refers to a specific movement where you begin from a diagonal crouch either leaning left or right, then hold the jump button down while still holding the diagonal direction for the duration of a full jump by Alucard. When performed correctly, it will allow Alucard to move a known and fixed distance. On level ground with no short ceilings to collide with, Alucard will travel exactly 102 pixels horizontally after performing a full jump.

Shield Dash until Room Transition

With consistent enough shield dashing, it is possible to hear a slight pause in Alucard's dashing sounds which occurs when Alucard leaves one room and enters another. You can use this sound cue to tell when you have reached the next room, which is helpful for moving through certain sections quickly and easily.

Shield Dash until Damage Check

Throughout the blindfolded category, the fastest movement between two points will often be to shield dash until you run into an enemy. The sound of Alucard taking damage from an enemy will serve as a sound cue and let you know when you have reached the next waypoint. By memorizing the layout of rooms and the enemies within, you can use these sound cues to verify that you are still on the correct route.

Start

Experience

NOTE: All actions in this guide, such as "Jump left" or "Jump right" refer to specific moves that are normalized for blindfolded play. Refer to the Basic Moveset section for more detail.

The only section of the blindfolded route where you have to care about Alucard's experience is in the very beginning after the Prologue, but before Death Skip. Just as in the normal Any% run, your goal will be to arrive at the last Warg before Death's room while Alucard's XP value is between 88 and 99.

Unfortunately, there is no reliable way to predict or control the random Zombie spawns, so it is likely that if you attempt to kill the Wargs or Zombies in the Zombie-spawning portion of the route, you will accidentally kill an extra Zombie or two without realizing it. As a result, the safest way to have the correct experience value is to kill the first Warg you see 4 times. You can do this by leaving the room it spawns in and coming back multiple times. After killing that Warg, proceed into the next room and kill the first 2 Wargs normally. After that, you will need to avoid using your sword for the rest of the room. Instead, try jumping over the 3rd Warg if you can, and whether you succeed or fail, proceed to hold RIGHT and wait.

By holding RIGHT and being patient, the horde of Zombies will eventually push you slowly to the right until you leave the room. You will be able to tell when you have reached the next room once you no longer hear thunder crashes, which the previous room had. Once you stop hearing thunder, proceed to hold RIGHT for a few more seconds until Alucard has walked off the stairs and is next to the breakable boulder. Proceed to break this boulder, then head right for a few more seconds. Break the next boulder, then perform the following: Hop, Pivot Left, Dash twice, Jump Right. The reason you have Alucard hop is to permit Alucard to pivot again, as attacking leaves him in a state where he is unable to turn around normally. Once you have jumped right, proceed to Shield Dash until Damage Check, then turn around and kill the Warg, and turn back around again. Shield Dash until Damage Check again, then turn around and kill the Warg, and turn back around again.

By this point, you should have killed exactly ...

TODO: Finish describing the Experience section

Death Skip

If you are already proficient with the Neutron Bomb Death Skip in a normal Any% run, it is possible to execute the trick blindfolded the exact same way. However, there exists a normalized setup that can guarantee a 100% success rate if performed correctly. The setup revolves around getting Alucard to a very specific X position using a particular sequence of jumps and dashes, detailed below. Once Alucard is at this position, a map buffered input can be used.

1. Set Alucard's X Position to a specific value
   1. Walk right against the ledge
   2. Crouch and slash while standing in place to break the block
   3. Jump right
   4. Stand up and dash left
   5. Jump right, colliding with the ledge
   6. Jump right again
   7. Stand up and dash left
   8. Jump right, colliding with the ledge
   9. Stand up and dash left
   10. Listen and wait for the Warg's attack
   11. Perform the following three times in a row while not getting hit by the Warg's attack
       1. Jump left
       2. Stand up and dash
       3. Dash again
2. Equip Neutron Bomb
   1. Press MENU (to enter the menu screen)
   2. Press JUMP twice (to select Alucard's Right hand)
   3. Press DOWN (to select the Neutron Bomb)
   4. Press JUMP (to equip the Neutron Bomb to Alucard's Right hand)
   5. Press MENU (to return to the game screen)
3. Map buffer holding LEFT and ATTACK (to use the Neutron Bomb)
   1. Open the map
   2. Hold left and attack
   3. While still holding left and attack, press the map button again to map buffer the inputs
4. While the level up animation plays, hold DASH
5. Walk right against the ledge
6. Jump right while walking right until Alucard exits Death's room