🌉 Effect & Cause 1
If you performed the Titanless route for Abyss 1 (Sandwich) earlier, it is important to quickly exit to menu here and reload back into the level (this can also be done at the start of Beacon 1 instead) This is necessary to get the Scorch and Brute loadouts which were missed because of the previous route in Abyss 1.
[Mention pro-con for menuing here vs Beacon 1? -quartz]
At the start of this level, you should not hold forward (or any direction) immediately on starting the fade-in. This can sometimes cause you to get stuck and softlock during the scripted fall.
Intro
Vents Exit
Scientist Rooms
Simple Pre-speed
Longer Pre-speed
[i forgor]
Upon entering the next room, try to reach the group of scientists by the whiteboard as quickly as possible to trigger the next timeswap.
Helmet Grab
Following the next scripted timeswap, the level opens up and will no longer be as "on rails" until you reach Anderson's helmet.
The lecture hall can be entered from either the left or right depending on your choice of prespeed strat. In both cases, you should crouch when passing the rows of seats to avoid any strange pseudo-wallgrabs on them. Aim to reach the speaker at the front as quickly as possible, as interrupting his speech is what triggers the next scripted timeswap.
No Pre-speed
At the front of the lecture hall, stand on the most elevated section of floor facing the vent from a diagonal-right angle. Jump forward and land on the edge of the vent opening when the scripted timeswap visually begins, and start a slidehop string from there with a jump into a slide. Exitting the vent is made easier with a left tap strafe, where you can then go for as many wallkicks as you can in the long hallway.
Frag
You can also pull a frag during the jump into your slidehop string to make the rest of the segment faster. This setup can be done in many ways and will benefit from some experimentation. As a baseline, the grenade will be thrown or dropped at your feet around a quarter of the way through the beeping sound - aim to land the boost before time swaps again while still late enough to get a good amount of speed from it.
The grenade can also be bounced off the left wall upon entering the hallway, where the black line can act as a visual aid when adjusting for variables in the fragboost.
It is important to note that the game will crash to menu if time swaps again while you are dead - therefore, you should revert to checkpoint as fast as possible if you die to this frag.
Pre-speed
To carry prespeed into this section, you will need to enter the lecture hall from the left. Double jump through the left side of the hall and aim to land somewhere in the middle of the rows of seats. Then, run on the left wall and cFEB once you clear the seats' collision. Strafe to the right and either land or double jump for a kick on the big presentation screen, and make your way through the vents with intuitive use of tap strafing to avoid bonking.
Due to speed variance, the frag combined with this prespeed will usually be done based on feel - pull the frag as you enter the vent and throw it in the hallway according to the amount of speed you have.
After the boost, you can go for any wallkick(s) you feel comfortable with before you reach the hallway exit.
Backup - Rock boost
If you are exiting this section very slowly, you can opt to stop your movement and go for a slant boost on the rock outcrop just outside the hallway. This is fairly precise and will lead to more timeloss if missed, but can get you back up to 70-80 kmh if done right.
Stop at the end of the hallway, and with as much downard speed as possible via double jumping aim to land on this [image] part of the rock while crouched. From there, you will have to do the rest of the movement at ground level.
Building momentum in the hallway is important because of how it sets you up for the following section: after exiting the building, you need to enter the reception building while bypassing as much of the ground geometry as possible. For the same reason, maintaining height here is also important.
The easiest way of doing this is to strafe left out of the hallway to land for a slidehop on the raised grass platform. From here, you can safely double jump over all the obstacles and aim to land directly in front of the reception entrance. If you are going at roughly <= 70 kmh, you can also wallkick the big glass panel in the middle of the path for a more direct line. Although it is hard to get speed from, the height from this kick also allows you to strafe over all obstacles and land safely in front of the reception.
When routing your way through this area, note that none of the flying enemies have any collision.
After entering reception, double jump straight ahead over the mrvn and land on the angled slant seperating the two stairways. This slant can be slid up safely with instant double jumps, while holding E to interact with the helmet. By extending the final slidehop, you can also interact without any mantles.
After the interact animation, make your way back to BT with a simple slidehop string out of reception. Hold E next to BT to give him the helmet as soon as you are prompted - because of this prompt, this section can be thought of as a mini autoscroller, so don't worry too much about your movement or rotue.
// [this whole section reads pretty weirdly in my opinion. i think there's definitely some kind of more digestable structure to go for but it is 3 AM so i just kinda waffled lol -nex]
Cutscene
Although this cutscene is essentially an autoscroller, there are a few things to do during it:
- If you don't have an EVA-8, there is a pickup for one next to where BT is standing.
- If you have already menued on this level for beacon 2 frags, or otherwise don't have a spitfire, you may want to pick up a flatline next to the dead body on the upper floor of reception. This is a preference for some people during the beacon 1 enemy clear.
- When BT says "recommend we locate Anderson's wrist mounted device before proceeding", mash to select the lower dialogue option ("What are we supposed to do?") as fast as possible.
- As BT enters his animation of throwing the zipline, you must be looking at him for him to throw it.
Zipline
Early Zipline Grab
Make sure you delay your double jump here to have the right height to make the grab.
On the zipline, select the upper dialogue option ("There's got to be an easier way, BT") as quickly as possible. You have to reach the ground to trigger the next the cutscene, so do not land in the secret upper area with the satchels.
Stalker Room
Wait for the scripted timeswaps to play out, and stand in front of the door. You can either shoot or run through the stalker that opens it, and slide into a kick on the left wall. Once you trigger the timeswap to the present towards the end of this room, you can use any movement you want as the level is on rails leading up to the laser grid.
To close out the level, start a slidehop string from the laser grid to the end of the long bridge, where the level will fade out. However, it is important to make sure you are still behind the debris in the middle by the time all the rapid, scripted timeswaps have run out - this avoids a softlock where you get stuck in the present between the two sections of debris. If this happens, you can revert to what is usually a very generous checkpoint.
Bridge
Basic route
The basic route for the bridge involves using simple slidehops through the hallway.
FTL (Faster than Light)
A faster way through the bridge uses a boost on the laser grid, getting you ahead of the scripted timeswaps and therefore past the debris both earlier and with much more speed.
- This strat is quite hard to grasp at first, but it becomes relatively easier once you get it down. I would say It's worth going for at around a 1:25:XX goal time -next racer one
- Be sure not to softlock here as you lose 10-15 seconds. -mats