Game:

Crypt of the NecroDancer (2015)

Duration: 23:40

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2

Decided to try out Necrodancer for a bit. Managed to clear Aria Low% (no items), so here's a video. I don't have the DLC.
What is Aria?: Starting dagger only + limited to 1/2 hearts of health (instant death) + death on missing a beat.
What is Low%?: Not allowed to pick up any items.

Low% matters for Aria because in low%:
- You are limited to doing 1 damage per hit (no items to increase damage). This makes enemies way harder to kill, and makes crowds of enemies difficult to deal with because they swarm you faster than you can take them out.
- You can't use spells. No shield or ice spell in particular for emergency situations or bosses.
- You don't have a torch (the torch is an important item in non-low% runs. Without a torch, you can't see enemies until they are almost directly in front of you. Don't know how many times I got killed walking into a surprise armadillo showing up directly in front of me or as I turn a corner).
- You don't have a shovel (so you can only dig through basic walls, trying to dig anything else counts as a missed beat which kills you)
- You don't have boots for immunity to terrain. (In particular, you can't get immunity to ice terrain. Without immunity, if you step on ice, you need to skip inputs for every beat you are sliding or you'll miss a beat and die. This is really tricky to do consistently, so I avoid ice like the plague in low%)
- You only have a single bomb and potion throughout the entire run.

Picking up gold is ok, but picking up an item invalidates the run, so items should be treated like spikes.

Deep Blues is definitely the most difficult boss in Aria Low%, but I practice Deep Blues almost exclusively between runs, so I can handle Deep Blues 2/3 relatively consistently. Didn't get to show it off though, I got Deep Blues 1 in this run.
On the other hand, Coral Riff 3 is my most inconsistent boss fight. So I got kind of unlucky there. Somehow didn't screw it up though.

The Golden Lute strat is something I came up with on my own. It's a modification of the quick-kill strat that is way easier/more consistent to execute (for me at least). It's way slower though. I'm consistent enough with this strat that I don't really practice the Golden Lute boss anymore. Thankfully I still remember how to execute it. I could create a separate video if anyone says they're interested in seeing it.

Tips and Strategies:
Frankly, most of the tips/strategies for Aria (+Low%) can be found on Reddit etc, and I don't think I much new to add. I'll write till I run out of space.
- Back off immediately EVERY TIME after you dig a wall. Because you don't have a torch, there's always a chance there's an enemy hiding behind that wall who will kill you immediately after you dig it. Play extremely cautiously even though it may seem overboard.
- As far as possible, kill enemies one at a time. Don't aggro multiple enemies at once, and let them come to you instead of going to them. Going to them can cause more enemies to be aggro'd.
- If being chased by multiple enemies, try to split them up by turning around corners. This can cause some of them to get stuck, so you can pick them off in smaller groups / one at a time.
- Always have a path of retreat prepared. If you are trying to advance in one direction and you know the opposite direction is a dead end, it may be good to clear the dead end of enemies first, so that you don't get flanked when retreating later on.
- Always prioritize fast-moving enemies first. Follow your retreat path until the fast enemies are separated from the slower ones before you engage them. Then clear out the slower enemies.
- Remember that enemies will always prioritize moving in a straight line, in the same direction they were moving before, until they align with you horizontally or vertically, after which they will turn towards you (i.e. they move in an L shape, not a zig-zag). Use this to lead enemies into traps, and try to get faraway dragons to walk horizontally towards you, so that you have more vertical space to engage them later.
- Don't finish off skeletons. Leave them running and the coffin spawners won't spawn additional skeletons. In particular, the best way to deal with #-2 and #-3 spawners is to get them to spawn a single green/black skeleton, disarm it, then ignore the spawner from then on.
- Dig walls to widen the narrow passageways in zone 1 so that you don't get trapped in corridors with spiders or red dragons.
- My favorite way to kill Green/Black Shield Skeletons is to hit them once in the shield, then step back and forth perpendicular to them until they walk up next to you. This puts you in the perfect position to hit them twice in the side.
- Practice killing Red/Blue dragons in a 2x2 box, vertically, and horizontally (dodge breath, step back in front on dragon, step away from dragon, attack dragon in the face, repeat by dodging breath). Practice switching between the horizontal and vertical strats while a dragon chases you.

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