-Preface-
Due to the complex upgrading system, an Iji speedrun must be entirely planned out from the beginning. Nano points, upgrade stations, items, and secret passages are scattered around each level in an act of genius-grade level design.
I spent last night documenting all convenient nano locations, differentiating by "mandatory" nano that doesn't cost any frames to pick up, and "optional" nano that costs at least 1 frame to pick up. Not mentioned are incidental enemy deaths, which are very necessary for extra nano after sector 3.
The two big nano barriers are (1) nuking Asha 1, and (2) skipping Asha 2. Nuking Asha 1 requires 17 points, and skipping Asha 2 requires 27 points. Putting extra points into Health can dramatically save time by taking damage.
The goal now is to find the path of Nano collection that will lead to the fastest victory. Except for optimizing the bosses, everything else is child's play.
INCOMING WALL OF TEXT
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NANO REQUIREMENTS:
+4 nano requirement per level (4, 8, 12, etc.)
Level 1: 4 nano
Level 2: 8 nano
Level 3: 12 nano
Level 4: 16 nano
Level 5: 20 nano
Level 6: 24 nano
Level 7: 28 nano
Level 8: 32 nano
Level 9: 36 nano
Level10: 40 nano
Level11: 44 nano
Level12: 48 nano
Level13: 52 nano
Level14: 56 nano
Level15: 60 nano
Level16: 64 nano
Level17: 68 nano
Level18: 72 nano
Level19: 76 nano
Level20: 80 nano
Level21: 84 nano
Level22: 88 nano
Level23: 92 nano
Level24: 96 nano
Level25: 100 nano
Level26: 104 nano
Level27: 108 nano
Level28: 112 nano
Level29: 116 nano
Level30: 120 nano
Level31: 124 nano
Level32: 128 nano
Level33: 132 nano
Level34: 136 nano
Level35: 140 nano
Level36: 144 nano
Level37: 148 nano
Level38: 152 nano
Level39: 156 nano
Level40: 160 nano
SUPERCHARGES
Each supercharge negates the need for the highest level nano required. So for example, the first supercharge for a minimum level of 30 saves us 120 nano.
SECTOR 1: NO. Costs ~59 seconds
SECTOR 2: NO. Too long and clever to even think about obtaining.
SECTOR 3: MAYBE. Requires 9 points. Reboot required. Costs ~20 seconds.
SECTOR 4: MAYBE. Costs ~15 seconds.
SECTOR 5: MAYBE. Nuke Asha. Requires 19 points. Saves at least 1 second.
SECTOR 6: MAYBE. Nuke the glass. Costs ~7 seconds.
SECTOR 7: NO. Proxima? No.
SECTOR 8: NO. The easter egg requires too much work including destroying two annihilators. No.
SECTOR 9: NO. Takes ~50 seconds.
SECTOR X: NO. The whole point of the speedrun is to NOT get this one.
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NANO GRABBING
SECTOR 1
[01] Mandatory +8 on table
[02] Optional +8 after warp, costs ~3 FRAMES
[03] Optional +8 on bottom floor, costs ~3 FRAMES
[04] Mandatory +8 at end
TOTAL MANDATORY: 16
TOTAL OPTIONAL: 16
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SECTOR 2
[01] Optional +16 near supercharge, costs ~1 second
[02] Mandatory +16 at bottom of shaft
[03] Optional +8 after warp, costs ~2 seconds
[04] Mandatory +16 near Jump upgrade
[05] Optional +8 after Jump upgrade, costs ~5 seconds
[06] Mandatory +16 before crack door
[07] Mandatory +12 after crack door
[08] Optional +16 after crack door
[09] Mandatory +16 at end
TOTAL MANDATORY: 76
TOTAL OPTIONAL: 48
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SECTOR 3
[01] Optional +8 at middle of beginning, costs ~1 second
[02] Optional +16 at bottom of beginning, costs ~2 seconds
[03] Optional +8 at right of beginning, costs ~2 seconds
[04] Optional +18 at bottom right of beginning, costs ~2 seconds
[05] Optional +16 after falling, costs ~20 FRAMES
[06] Mandatory +8 after outside
[07] Optional +32 near armor, costs 2 FRAMES
[08] Mandatory +24 near warp
[09] Optional +16 after warp, costs ~5 FRAMES
[10] Optional +8 at Komato, costs ~1 second
[11] Optional +8 at Komato, costs ~1 second
[12] Mandatory +8 at Komato
[13] Optional +16 at Komato, costs ~2 seconds
[14] Optional SUPERCHARGE, costs ~20 seconds
TOTAL MANDATORY: 40
TOTAL OPTIONAL: 146
COSTS 9 POINTS TO GET SECTOR 3 SUPERCHARGE (180 nano)
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SECTOR 4
[01] Mandatory +18 at beginning
[02] Optional +8 in first area, costs ~10 FRAMES
[03] Mandatory +48 before shredder
[04] Optional +8 after kicking the strength 6 door, costs ~3 seconds
[05] Mandatory +24 after kicking the strength 6 door
[06] Mandatory +34 after powering up the reactor (+2 of that is from Tasen at end)
TOTAL MANDATORY: 124
TOTAL OPTIONAL: 16
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SECTOR 5
[01] Optional +?? at 1st conflict - don't rely on being able to manipulate luck here (but it's definitely possible!)
[02] Optional +32 at top of shaft, costs ~1 second
[03] Optional +?? at 2nd conflict - don't rely, etc.
[04] Mandatory +48 in between conflicts
[05] Optional +?? at 3rd conflict - don't rely, etc.
[06] Optional +?? at 4th conflict (outside) - don't rely, etc.
[07] Optional +?? at 5th conflict - don't rely, etc.
[08] Optional +80 after MPFB skip, costs ~1.5 seconds
TOTAL MANDATORY: 48
TOTAL OPTIONAL: 80 + ??
COSTS 17 POINTS TO NUKE ASHA (612 nano -132 from supercharges (~35 seconds) = 480 nano)
(and 18 points to use crack 10 door in Sector 6)
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SECTOR 6
[01] Mandatory +48 before crack 10 door
[02] Mandatory +8 on top path
[03] Optional +8 on top path, costs ~20 FRAMES
[04] Optional +8 on top path, costs ~4 seconds
[05] Optional +16 on middle path, costs ~1 second
[06] Optional +8 and supercharge, costs ~6 seconds
[07] Optional +16 at bottom, costs ~20 FRAMES (also potential for nano from kills)
TOTAL MANDATORY: 48
TOTAL OPTIONAL: 64 + ??
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SECTOR 7
[01] Mandatory +16 in rocket passage
[02] Mandatory +8 before armory
[03] Optional +72 in armory, costs ~7 seconds
[04] Mandatory +16 in Reaver Main Gate
[05] Mandatory +16 in Reaver Main Gate Access
[06] Mandatory +16 in Reaver Data Processing
[07] Mandatory +16 in secret passage
[08] Optional +16 in secret passage, costs ~20 FRAMES
TOTAL MANDATORY: 88
TOTAL OPTIONAL: 88
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SECTOR 8
[01] Mandatory +32 in first area
[02] Optional +32 in first area, costs ~3 seconds
[03] Mandatory +32 in second area
[04] Optional +48 to +80 in gap between seconds and third area, costs ~15 seconds, extra depends on Annihilator defeating both Elites.
[05] Mandatory +48 in third area
[06] Optional +32 in upgrade area, costs ~6 seconds
[07] Mandatory +80 in elevator room
[08] Mandatory +32 in blast room
[09] Optional +16 to +80 in blast room depending on what the enemies do, costs ~10 seconds
[10] Mandatory +48 when about to enter the last annihilator room
[11] Optional +32 when about to enter the last annihilator room, costs ~6 seconds
[12] Optional +32 in the last annihilator room, depends on the annihilator
[13] Mandarory +16 at the end
[14] Optional +32 at the end, costs ~1 second
TOTAL MANDATORY: 288
TOTAL OPTIONAL: 368
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SECTOR 9
[01] Optional +16 at bottom before first elevator, costs ~4 seconds
[02] Optional +32 left of assassin script, costs ~5 seconds
[03] Optional +16 right of assassin script, costs ~5 FRAMES
[04] Mandatory +16 at Bulkhead Lock C
[05] Optional +16 at Bulkhead Lock C, costs ~20 FRAMES
[06] Mandatory +32 left of Bulkhead Lock C
[07] Mandatory +32 at Bulkhead Lock A
[08] Mandatory +56 on the way to Bulkhead Lock B
[09] Mandatory +64 around Bulkhead Lock D
[10] Mandatory +32 before Bulkhead Doors
[11] Mandatory +64 getting around elevators
[12] Optional +16 if Komato Troopers die, costs 0 FRAMES
[13] Mandatory +16 by console
[14] Optional +48 by locked door, costs ~3 seconds
[15] Mandatory +32 outside outpost
TOTAL MANDATORY: 344
TOTAL OPTIONAL: 144
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SECTOR X
[01] Mandatory +16 in first bottom area
[02] Optional +16 in first bottom area, costs ~2 FRAMES
[03] Mandatory +32 after blasting the core
[04] Optional +32 after blasting the core, costs ~1 second
[05] Optional +48 before the gauntlet, costs ~5 seconds
[06] Optional +96 in the restricted area, costs ~8 seconds
TOTAL MANDATORY: 48
TOTAL OPTIONAL: 192
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GAME TOTALS
GAME TOTAL MANDATORY MINIMUM NANO (with fighting Asha 1): 1112 (+24 levels, +4 nano) -24 nano from a mistake above that I fixed
EXTRA NANO REQUIRED TO NUKE ASHA AND CRACK SECTOR 6 DOOR: 240
MINIMUM TIME TO GET 240 EXTRA NANO: ~7.25 seconds, possibly ~3.25 with luck manipulation in sector 5.
MINIMUM TIME TO DEFEAT ASHA 1 WITHOUT NUKE: At least 5 seconds with luck manipulation and kicking (turns out you can kick Asha 1).
GAME TOTAL MANDATORY MINIMUM NANO (with nuking Asha 1): 1352 (+26 levels, +40 nano) -24 nano from a mistake above that I fixed
GAME TOTAL OPTIONAL NANO: 1194 (Guess I won't be needing this after all)
GAME TOTAL SUPERCHARGES: 4 (+4 levels)
MINIMUM LEVEL: 27 (+9 crack, +9 tasen, +9 komato)
PREFERRED LEVEL: 29 (+9 crack, +9 tasen, +9 komato, +2 health (to take damage to save time))
Amazingly, it may be faster to get optional nano than supercharges, and supercharge 6 isn't even necessary if nuking Asha.
104 optional nano can be collected in less than 2 additional seconds.
At this time, I'm not sure what supercharges are worth it, but I'm 95% certain that nuking Asha is the fastest solution.
