http://tasvideos.org/userfiles/info/5242539807730566
Look at what I coughed up!
Manipulation is a bit poor in places. I kind of didn't want to TAS through large areas because the last moment I could manipulate luck is at the start of the floor. Still, good ways to manipulate luck would be waiting at the previous floor, delaying a bit when confirming your warp, interacting with an enemy, or in the odd case of Ruins Area 5, delay before a loading zone.
The RNG is found in two words, at 0x7E021F and 0x7E0221. Actually, it's mostly just 0x7E0221, as 0x7E021F appears to be a scratch address to help generate a new RNG. Basically, 0x7E0221 is left-shifted one bit, and bits 0 and 14 (
before this left-shift) are XOR'd to determine the new bit coming in. 0x7E021F is just 0x7E0221 rotated left once XOR 0x7E0221 rotated right once.
As for how the RNG is used... That I haven't looked into, yet.
I plan to use my Saber against the archers in one room of the Tower. Then it's to be ditched for two Falchions to break against the two bosses of the Tower. I will try the Ramela armor to see if it allows me to shield against their attacks safely. The Ramela alone is also enough to help block ninja shurikens later, at least according to some earlier test of mine.
Most of the interesting planning isn't down in the Tower or Cave, but up in the Fortress.
Tower: Beat bosses with Falchion x20 and Falchion x30. Minimize hits dealt to keep Arm Strength low.
Cave: Block shurikens and smash him with Fire Magic. Keeps Arm Strength low. Boosts Knowledge to the skies. Needs lots of M.Potions.
Fortress: Now this is where our little vortex of planning needs to go...
First off, I need exactly three Rings of Life:
* One will be burnt getting past the gap in Fortress 3F.
* Another shall be spent for a nifty shortcut in Fortress 4F (
sadly, still can't skip the battle)
* One last ring needed to get past Fortress Top thanks to yet another deadly gap.
There are seven rings to find in the game:
#1 - Starter ring
#2 - Ruins Area 9 : Slightly out of the way
#3 - Tower 4F : Almost right along the path!
#4 - Cave B9 : Not even close...
#5 - Dark-Zone 2 : Somewhat distant
#6 - Fortress 2F : Inaccessible, impossible to get without death!
#7 - Fortress 3F : Next door to key item. Snatch it!
Obviously #1 will be in my inventory. #3 is lovely as I only need to travel four more tiles to get it. #7 is guarded by the same line of monsters as a necessary key, and these I plan to train on anyway. #2 is a good candidate to pick up, in case I need a fourth or #7 proves more troublesome than expected.
Oh, that shortcut? Falling in a pit has some sort of weird mechanics in that if you attempt to jump out right away before you die in it, you will collapse while floating over the hole. Once revived, you can then interact with doors like normal, despite the adjacent pit. I already tried the lobster door, hoping they didn't lock it due to presence of pits, but... Seems those programmers had a backup plan and locked it anyway. Nuts.
Next, the three lobsters in the fortress. I plan to get lots of Arm Strength backed by a Blade of Muramasa for it. Honestly, if potent strength plus the second best weapon in the game can't cut through that defense, we may as well give up on any hope of punching through with decent damage. More Luck would help, but that's based on your level, and we're not getting much of that.
The Blade can be found sitting in a chest through some secret passages in Fortress 4F. It has 10 hits on it. I need Hardening Potions if that thing's going to last. Each Hardening Potion is worth 10 to 20 hits at random (
Quick! Manipulate 20s!). Fortress 1F has a 2-use Hardening Potion in reach without even stepping off the path, and Fortress 3F has a 3-use Hardening Potion very close by. 110 hits with that Blade now!
As for the experience necessary for 99 Arm Strength, I'm well aware that enemies give a whopping 1 per hit long before you have 99. But that's if you have around 70 Arm Strength. You see, your stats are allocated a point of experience every frame or so instead of all at once, so while I'm swiftly punching something, the hundreds of EXP I'll build up won't have increased my Arm Strength yet, meaning I can still gain EXP like a low level despite having enough for a high level.
It'll also look ridiculous watching that message come up again and again. And then some more. And still showing up even more. You'll wonder when it'll stop. Or, at least, Knowledge will have that effect most pronounced from the ninja battle.
For this sort of growth, my best shot would be to minimize my Arm Strength and poke at the highest EXP enemy I can find. The four Arachness guarding a needed key and a useful Ring of Life each have a value of 70. Starting from 35 Arm Strength, each hit would be worth 35 EXP, until I level up. To survive, I need lots of Invisibility Potions.
Punching at maximum speed, 6 time-units of Invisibility Potion is eaten and 12 EXP is allocated. One potion gives 50 time-units, enough for 8 hits. I can also make roughly 8 hits before the game finally allocates EXP needed for one full level. So although I can start with making 35+ EXP per hit, by the end, I might only be getting 10 or so. With this in mind, 13 doses of Invisibility Potion would be worth only 30 Arm Strength, starting from 35.
23 doses will get a more favorable Arm Strength, but then I'd have to buy the extra 10 from somewhere. 65 Arm Strength isn't quite enough, so I may need those extra doses. Here's a short list of guesses from starting Arm Strength to ending Arm Strength:
40 : +34 > 74
39 : +36 > 75 Using 23 doses of
38 : +38 > 76 Invisibility Potion
37 : +40 > 77 and getting in as
36 : +42 > 78 many hits as I can.
35 : +44 > 79
34 : +46 > 80
33 : +47 > 80
32 : +49 > 81
31 : +51 > 82
30 : +53 > 83
See why I want to keep my Arm Strength as low as possible? The lower I start, the higher I'll end. Still, these are rough guesses, but every level counts, I think.
The maze will be fun to navigate, if I ever get there...