#lowpad

On Mar 30, 2019, fsg streamed a new LOTAD for Low% Pearl. At 1:19:25, fsg’s time was 3 minutes faster than Blank’s for Low% Mirror. Unlike Blank, fsg tested out movement for clean rooms, so the categories would remain difficult to compare. The route itself does not diverge from Chex’s PB.

The run is distinguished by fsg’s well-optimized strats:

A-Tower red spear guards – since the room normally requires a shield, fsg slashes the spear out of the air

G-Tower Gauntlet 4 arrow (a very consistent strat) 

Ice Palace spike trap dash (dependent on frame rule)

The boss fights are well done, including a 2-cycle Lanmo, 1-cycle Arrghus, 1-cycle Vitreous, and 21s Kholdstare.

In the midst of the Bottle/Mirror/Pearl split, I was preparing for an upcoming marathon run for Link to the Cure. I decided to grind Low% Pearl because it appeared to be the fastest (and safest) option.

I started with the sword & shield version on Mar 16 before attempting the Uncle skip route on Mar 17. I achieved the above PB after 20 attempts on Mar 29.

The run features a couple of overworld glitches that I helped contribute:

Flippers Wrap – Ice Palace is accessed using a double right-side screen wrap, developed with Tojso

Catfish DMA – Link can navigate from Pyramid to Turtle Rock by ascending Death Mountain on the way to Catfish, using a combination of lateral and vertical screen wraps

It also includes a water walk route from Moldorm to Zora. In the Moldorm arena, we can arm a water walk to later activate in Zora’s Domain after clipping down from East Death Mountain.

While Low% Pearl saves time in the overworld versus Low% Mirror, clearing Swamp Palace involves the infamous Mirror skip. The setup begins by deleting the Old Man at the Master Sword Pedestal. We then collect Ether and complete Agahnim’s Tower. From the Dark World, we enter Misery Mire and then clip from Hera to Swamp to pick up the Hookshot. At this point in RMG history (No EG/DG/WW), we still needed to enter Mire first to unlock Swamp because we could not yet steal a small key from Escape. Mire of course has a bounty of small keys to steal.

After Hookshot, we S&Q to Pyramid and then use a Skull Woods Houlihan to return to the Light World. The Houlihan is much easier to execute as Link with the use of sword-out hook dashes. Exiting Link’s House, we pull open the dam and S&Q to Old Man Cave (sans Old Man), from which we clip from Hera to Swamp and backtrack to the entrance. Then we can finally reload the dungeon and defeat Arrghus.

Yes, there was still one more solution to be realized. Looking back at the Low% Bottle requirements, we needed one potion to enter Ice Palace, one for the Smith, and two for Link States. The first two uses could be crossed out because of the Flippers wrap and the new Master Sword route. And blue potions could be replaced with Mirror as was just discovered. Of course, the Moon Pearl is another option. Low% Pearl was there all along. 

We now had three LowAD categories. Low% Pearl (aka LowPAD or PLowAD) would be the easiest thanks to not requiring bunny clipping, but would it be the fastest? This was never determined for sure, but Low% Mirror and Low% Pearl would be comparable. Splices for both would be developed later in the month. 

It continued to be a productive day in LowAD history: MichaelK routed Low% Mirror, fsg routed Low% Pearl, and Blank searched for the dream: Low% Shovel (SLowAD). Unfortunately, we have not found a way for Bunny Link to talk to the Flute Kid to date.

fsg’s first run of Low% Pearl clocked in at 1h 38m, showing that sub-1h 30m was feasible. Although the run was lost to time, it would have picked up the Fighter’s Sword and Fighter’s Shield, which were soon to be taken away from the Low% list.