After talking with Enhasa about movement choices and how they affect speed, I started doing a few tests with the original Amphibian build to see what his preferred mode of transportation is. I tested
sprinting alone, which finished the stage in 434 frames. I then tested
dashjumping (dashing + jumping, which is obviously faster than normal jumps), which finished in 424 frames.
So jumping is faster?
No. The landing lag is so intense that simply sprinting, then using the jump at the first frame that won't incur landing in that stage is technically faster. For such a slow build, dash jumping will only be of benefit if you can fit 14 precise dash jumps in one area, at which point it evens out with the combination. However, this doesn't factor in bouncing (two full speed bounces in one screen will make jumping the faster route) or the fact that you will sometimes carry over landing lag to the next stage if you don't land in the initial one. Note that this is using the slow ass Amphibian model (Agi 4, Jump 1), and that anything with different stats is subject to change.
So yeah, be sure to test out your build's options in movement. I still stand by changing to the Rabbit/Mammal body for speed purposes.
