More thoughts on the segmented and single segment Master Ninja speedruns for NGB.

As much as I try, when NGB gets a hook on me it's hard to shake it off. I went back and further revised some strategies for Master Ninja after finishing that first run. A lot, and I mean a lot of this can be utilised on a single segment run as well which I just might do at some stage. The amount of optimasition from these two runs alone is pretty staggering. I'll group some of the chapters together as they really do depend on the one prior going well to get the fastest patterns. 

Some of the bigger changes on this route were:

- Only picking up 10 scarabs. 

- No extra essence gained.

- 3 additional saves.

- Movement routing more specific. 

Upon reflection I only think scarabs are worth it on a single segment run. I'd say go for 20 as you get a full restock of smoke bombs and one of each elixir and 20 isn't hard to get nor does it add a huge amount of time but will absolutely pay dividends in chapter 15. For segmented going forward I only think the scarab before the pleasure street lever is pulled is needed. With it being segmented you don't need to worry about health at all for the most part.

I didn't bother collecting any left over essence in chapters 4 or 5 and I didn't kill the fish in chapter 11 with UT's either. Single segment wise I think you should go for that money and if need be you can finish off the UF clone with an ET very easily which is 60K in essence. Segmented though just make sure you don't use anything when you don't need to and you'll be fine. 

Movement lines are very important going forward, most fights are bordering on TAS territory so getting the perfect sequence of roll, jump into OL and vice versa will save time over the course of the entire game. It's actually pretty amazing to see just how much time you can lose with decent movement compared to perfect movement. 

Chapters 1,2,3,4 and 5

These chapters really are a run within a run in my book, I revised the essene approach in chapter 1 to where finishing with 11,500 essence is very consistent in chapter 1. That is the minimum you will need with collecting the essence chest and getting at least 6 UT kills in chapter 2. This gets you 3 EODW and Inferno and makes the level 2 DS and counter attacks available in chapter 3.

Chapter 4 is actually quite simple, just try to get as much essence as you can for single segment as you want the EODW if you can afford it. This can be used on Hydracubus or the deity room in chapter 6. For now I'd say the latter is where it's best used. 

Chapter 6,7,8,9 and 10

Deity room is Inferno city and definitely kill the clone with a UT. The double ET into Lunar knockdown is super reliable as long as your positioning is on point. Try to kill the cats in the deity room with UTs as they are worth a lot of money and your health bar isn't going to get big enough to where you can just shrug off hits on MN. You might need to top up on health in chapter 7.

Keep in mind your first talisman won't be obtained until chapter 10. 

Chapter 7 is easy enough, this is where I think it's best to buy AOTS, stock up fully on EODW for Alma and again try to take out the cats in the deity room with UTs if possible. 

First fight of chapter 8 can be quite lucrative if you have full IS. You don't need ninpo for anything else in this chapter so use that to take out the first set of soldiers and use IS to keep the combo going. You should get at least 3 UT'd essence here as well as the drops from the higher combo counts.

Chapter 9 was much better as I got a faster method for the turn table fight. Wind path into EA and UT's is much faster but it still does depend on good spawns unfortunately. For single segment it's definitely worth getting as much UT'd essence here as you can. Prioritise the RL guys as they drop more.

Chapter 10 was mainly just better movement and a better worm strategy. I definitley don't think a UT kill on the Dabi clone is worth it. You can kill the fish super easily and that combined with the clone essence is 36K.

Paz Zuu requires some patience as you definitely don't want to burn that talisman on him. Doku and chapter 12 are far more likely to take that off you as is chapter 13. You can get a free one from the Ogres though which for single segment I'd say is worth the trade. All being well you'll have two talismans now in chapter 13. 

Chapters 11,12 and 13

Super happy with these. Shaved off tons of time overall, not killing the fish saved a lot as did not picking up any more scarabs. Your movement has to be perfect for the lava assault cause, you can only fall in once and get back to Yotunfrau if you want to do this no items. Less hast and more speed is the name of the game here. Any hit from the ogres into lava after one lava hit will be a talisman wasted. 

Chapter 13 was very tough to beat, low health UF is definitely worth it on the Flail clone in my book. The amount of time he can waste is insane and the wall attack is a huge amount of damage to land right at the start. As always AA is a lottery, don't burn through items on her though trying to get a super knockdown happy kill. A slow AA with zero items is better than an avergae AA where you burn all your health and talismans.

Chapters 14, 15 and 16

14 was again tough to beat as the only real improvement was perfect movement and lines. UF clone was slightly better and I didn't need the ET kill on him. For single segment though I would say it's a good idea unless you are completely stocked on devil elixirs and talismans. 

I truly hate the first floor of the core in chapter 15, those bloody crab imps can easily burn 15 seconds if they all spawn at the back. For single segment I would open this room with Inazuma, losing a talisman going for the charge just simply isn't worth the risk. The rest of your core would be drastically slower in this regard. If you get here with no talismans though and you're comfortable bringing the hurt with the TDS then you really wouldn't lose that much time using that instead. If you're not comfortable with the low health UF for the core then even with talismand the TDS might be a better option. You have to do the core no hurt to really make the most of the UF.

Chapter 15 really is all about the ninpo and UF though if you want a good time. The Marbus gauntlet is routed very nicely now where you can literally ninpo everything up until Ishtaros, then it's a case of bringing her down no damage which isn't that bad and then you low health UF Marbus. Even if you get a perfect Inazuma strategy on him the UF is quite a bit faster. This does require a lot of knowledge on Marbus' tendancies and attack patterns so if you'd rather save potential talismans for Murai then the ninpo method is still a good option.

Murai is an absolute bell end when he wants to be. Saving a Talisman for him is pretty much essential, if he opens with shurikens jump towards him and use ninpo. He might just do it again and again which means you might not get any low health UF hits in which is really bad but it's just one of those things really. You'll either get a really good Murai or a bad Murai but playing it somewhat safe is definitely advised for single segment. 

That's it for now. I got these runs done very quickly and have brought the times down by a huge margin. I must admit single segment isn't that appealing just due to how big the time difference is likely to be but I dare say I might find some better strategies doing it so I'm definitely not ruling it out entirely. 

The last week has been pretty good all things considered outside of NGB. I have half a mind to show the first run on stream but I'm not sure if I'll go through with it. I am still very much enjoying being away from it all but the runs do exist I can assure you :)

Thanks for reading!

Peace.