Hey, I'm not sure which thread to post this in. I don't know if pirate_sephiroth is still working or planning on working on this, but I decided to take on a(n) 100% souls run on normal difficulty as a long on-going side project. Here's what I got so far, using what I learned in the threads (all three of them) and some of the WIP's posted.
http://dehacked.2y.net/microstorage.php/info/973412488/ariaofsorrowallsouls.vbm
Let me know what you think. Again not trying to step in on anyone's territory. I mostly just like the idea (and want to practice luck manipulation).
By the way, here's an outline of my planned route through the castle, since I'm all about sharing information, and the discussion would be fun. Let me know if I missed something.
Aria of Sorrow planning:
EDIT: Here's the short version if you don't want to read the long one:
As normal through Great Armor, then Dance Hall, then Clock Tower, then through the Underground Reservoir to the Arena, fighting Legion on the way. After that, I fight Graham, then go to the Headhunter and pick up Chronomage, then to the Forbidden Area for one soul that isn't found anywhere else. Finally I go to Chaos.
However, Dance Hall can be done at any time without affecting the route too much. I'd like to know whether you think I should do it sooner or later.
Advantages of sooner: higher levels for every boss fight afterward (and a couple armors).
Reasons to do it later: Tsuchinoko.
/EDIT
Question: Is there any way to glitch straight to the Forbidden Zone?
Ways to manipulate RNG:
1.attack
2.cause damage
3.slide
4.scroll the screen (vertically at least)
5. make the enemies take action
6. partical effects (e.g. clouds of dust, souls flying through the air, fire effects)
Enemies that call RNG on every frame and thus are my friends:
1. zombie
2. skeleton
3. merman
4. bat (apparently)
5. ghost
6. any of the large armors
7. golems?
8. medusa heads?
Souls I need to get the first time I see the enemy (Either because I use them later or I only see them once):
1. Buer
2. Creaking Skull
3. Red Crow
4. Siren
5. Catoblepas
6. Waiter Skeleton
7. Tsuchinoko (boy is that one going to be annoying)
8. Kyoma Demon
9. Chronomage
10. Curly
11. Altair
12. Dead Warrior
13. Gorgon
14. Giant Worm
15. Man Eater
16. Triton
17. Poison Worm
18. Ripper
19. Alura Une
20. Biphron
21. Mandragora
22. Flesh Golem
23. Sky Fish (Can I kill it without chronomage?)
24. Kicker Skeleton
25. Killer Mantle
26. Giant Skeleton
27. Bael
28. Mimic
29. Lubicant
30. Basilisk
31. Iron Golem
32. Final Guard
33. Flame Demon (or on the way back)
Souls that have very few opportunities for taking:
1. Manticore
2. Giant Golem
3. Skeleton Knight
4. Student Witch
5. Arachne
6. White Dragon
7. Durga
8. Giant Ghost
9. Quezlcoatl
10. Ghost Dancer
11. Wooden Golem
12. Lilith
13. Nemesis
14. Witch
15. Disc Armor
16. Gremlin
17. Lightning Doll
18. Une
19. Fish Head
20. Nightmare
21. Slime
22. Shadow Knight
Possible Difficult Souls:
1. Peeping Eye
2. Tsuchinoko
3. Sky Fish
4. Medusa Head (there’s a lot of them, but they don’t seem to be very giving)
5. Any souls in Forbidden Area (do we really need Undine to get there? Apparently, you do)
6. Dead Crusader
7. Flesh Golem
8. Alura Une
9. Kyoma Demon
10. Golem
Walkthrough
Begin game: speed through opening scene.
Souls I can have by this point:
1.Winged Skeleton (Can hit twice or three times if used right. No randomness beyond calling a value if used.)
Soulds I need:
1. Winged Skeleton
Souls Equipped:
Red: Winged Skeleton
Blue: none
Yellow: none
Pick up Grave Keeper
Can now use back-dash.
Souls I can have:
1. Zombie (Completely useless for my purposes)
2. Bat (Very Limited range. Practically useless.)
3. Merman (Slightly higher attack, but only hits once. Small particle effect, but goes away too quick to be useful)
Souls I need:
(none)
Souls Equipped:
Red: Winged Skeleton
Blue: none
Yellow: none
Weapon: Baselard
Defeat Creaking Skull
Souls I can have:
1. Skeleton (throws bone. Upward arc might possibly be useful, but not worth equipping)
2. Axe Armor (limited range, will attack three times if you hover it in target)
3. Creaking Skull (nothing worth equipping)
Souls I need:
1. Creaking Skull
Souls Equipped
Red: Winged Skeleton
Blue: none
Yellow: none
Meet Graham Jones
Souls I can have:
1. Skull Archer (decent damage, but takes too long to use)
2. Blue Crow (Bad range, no randomness)
3. Buer (Calls on RNG every four frames)
4. Skeleton Knight (strength boost)
5. Zombie Soldier (useless)
6. Ghost (Calls on RNG every frame, might be useful in a pinch)
7. White Dragon (Takes four hits to kill. Get it later)
8. Peeping Eye (useless)
9. Tiny Devil (less need to aim, but doesn’t call on RNG much)
10. Rock Armor (Useless)
Souls I need:
1. Buer (for the RNG)
2. Skeleton Knight (for the strength boost)
Souls Equiqqed:
Red: Winged Skeleton
Blue: Buer
Yellow: Skeleton Knight
Combat knife equipped? If I can get one.
Defeat Manticore
Souls I can have:
1. Giant Ghost (useless)
2. Une (get it later)
3. Manticore (possible speed boost? Calls on RNG every four frames)
Souls I need:
none
Souls Equipped:
Red: Winged Skeleton
Blue: Buer
Yellow: Skeleton Knight
Meet Yoko
Souls I can have:
1. Fleaman (useless novelty)
2. Arachne (useless)
3. Evil Butcher (no nonsense attack)
4. Ectoplasm (useless)
5. Cabletopas (useless)
6. Student Witch (funny, but useless)
7. Bone Pillar (Buer calls RNG more)
8. Zombie Soldier (get later)
Souls I need:
none
Souls Equipped:
Red: Winged Skeleton
Blue: Buer
Yellow: Skeleton Knight
Defeat Great Armor/Get Malphas/Meet Hammer
Souls I can have:
1. Minotaur (Strength boost)
2. Great Armor (calls RNG every eight frames can move while using)
Souls I need:
1. Minotaur
2. Great Armor
Souls Equipped:
Red: Winged Skeleton
Blue: Buer/Great Armor
Yellow: Minotaur
Return to Warp Point
Souls I can have:
1. Quezlcotl (useless. Get later)
2. Ghost Dancer (luck boost? Might help.)
Souls I need:
1. Cabletopas
Souls Equipped:
Red: Winged Skeleton
Blue: Buer
Yellow: Minotaur
Travel to Dance Hall (may do this later)
Souls I can have:
1. Siren (useless, but cute)
Souls I need:
1. Siren
Souls Equipped:
Red: Winged Skeleton
Blue: Buer
Yellow: Minotaur
Defeat Big Golem/Get Skeleton Blaze
Souls I can have:
1. Waiter Skeleton (useless)
2. Killer Doll (useless)
3. Wooden Golem (could be helpful)
4. Big Golem (useless)
5. Tsuchinoko (pain in the ass and useless)
Souls I need:
1. Waiter Skeleton
2. Tsuchinoko (WHYYYYYYY!!!)
Return to Warp Point
Souls I can have:
1. Durga (Not too useful)
2. Nemesis (very limited use)
Souls I need:
1. Quezlcotl
2. Evil Butcher
3. Killer Doll
4. Zombie Officer
5. Nemesis
6. Ghost Dancer
7. Wooden Golem
Souls Equipped:
Red: Winged Skeleton
Blue: Buer
Yellow: Minotaur (Ghost Dancer?)
Head to Floating Garden
Souls I can have:
1. none
Souls I need:
1. Peeping Eye
2. Flying Armor
Souls Equipped:
Red: Winged Skeleton
Blue: Buer
Yellow: Minotaur
Head to Clock Tower
Souls I can have:
1. Cockatrice (Bad range)
2. Dead Warrior (useless)
3. Red Crow (not what I need)
4. Imp (Calls RNG every frame, relatively cheap)
5. Golem (Takes a lot to kill, but gives strength boost)
6. Werewolf (Small range, can’t use in air, no randomness)
7. Disc Armor (short range, but good attack. Possible)
8. Devil (transformation. Possible speed boost)
Souls I need:
1. Imp
2. Red Crow
3. Devil
4. Dead Warrior
Souls Equipped:
Red: Winged Skeleton (switch for Disc Armor?)
Blue: Imp
Yellow: Golem?
Defeat Death
Souls I can have:
1. Lightning Doll (Expensive, but strong)
2. Medusa Head (Might be useful in spots)
3. Bomber Armor (useless)
4. Harpy (no nonsense soul, but no)
5. Valkyrie (expensive)
6. Gremlin (same question as Ghost Dancer)
7. Death (Calls RNG every other frame, but good attack. Also more expensive)
8. Skula (well, you know)
Souls I need:
1. Death
2. Skula
3. Golem
Souls Equipped:
Red: Lightning Doll?
Blue: Imp (or Death)
Yellow: Golem
New weapon: Mystletain
Return to Warp Point
Souls I can have:
1. Needles (useless)
Souls I need:
1. Lightning Doll
2. Medusa Head
3. Harpy
4. Gremlin
5. Disc Armor
6. Bomber Armor
Souls Equipped:
Red: Lightning Doll
Blue: Imp
Yellow: Skula
(This might be a better time to go to Dance Hall)
Head to Underground Reservoir
Souls I can have:
1. Killer Fish (useless)
2. Man Eater (very strong with three targets. Maybe later)
Souls I need:
1. Killer Fish
2. Needles
Souls Equipped:
Red: Lightning Doll
Blue: Imp
Yellow: Skula
Equip Rahab’s Sword? (element ice, must get past Man Eater)
(If possible, see if I can’t visit the Reservoir warp point while here)
Head to Underground Cemetery
Souls I can have:
1. Cagnazzo (useless)
2. Ukoback (useless)
3. Giant Worm (loved it when I was playing, but useless here)
4. Nightmare (might be fun to have)
5. Slime (useless)
6. Mandragora (Kind of cool, but expensive)
7. Arc Demon (eh)
8. Sky Fish (oh, if only)
9. Triton (strength boost)
10. Gorgon (useless)
11. Poison Worm (useless)
12. Gargoyle (useless)
Souls I need:
1. Une
2. Giant Worm
3. Nightmare
4. Triton
5. Poison Worm
Souls Equipped:
Red: Lightning Doll
Blue: Imp
Yellow: Triton
Defeat Legion/Get Galamoth
Souls I can have:
1. Werejaguar (useless)
2. Biphron (kind of cool..)
3. Flame Demon (needed to finish, of course)
4. Legion (cool, but won’t use)
5. Ripper (useless)
Souls I need:
1. Werejaguar
2. Biphron
3. Flame Demon (can get these three on the way back, but why not now?)
4. Legion (destroy the shell first)
Souls Equipped:
Red: Lightning Doll
Blue: Imp
Yellow: Triton
Head Toward Arena
Souls I can have:
1. Alura Une (For unassisted players more)
2. Fish Head (get later)
Souls I need:
1. Ripper
2. Alura Une
Souls Equipped:
Red: Lightning Doll
Blue: Imp
Yellow: Triton
Defeat Balore/Get Giant Bat
Souls I can have:
1. Beam Skeleton (strong but slow)
2. Killer Mantle (Necessary for some enemies)
3. Dead Crusader (pain in the ass)
4. Skull Millione (useless)
5. Gladiator (useless)
6. Weretiger (useless)
7. Red Minotaur (hell yeah!)
8. Lubicant (Might want to use this)
9. Erinys (eh)
Souls I need:
1. Beam Skeleton
2. Killer Mantle
3. Skull Millione
4. Weretiger
5. Lubicant
Souls Equipped:
Red:
Blue:
Yellow:
New Weapon: Laevatain (possibly)
Return to Warp Point
All things the same as before.
(This might be a better time to go to Dance Hall than when I have it)
Visit Top Floor/Defeat Graham
Souls I can have:
1. Succubus (needed to win)
2. Final Guard (might be fun)
3. Bael (useless)
4. Basilisk (useless)
5. Black Panther
Souls I need:
Souls Equipped:
Red:
Blue:
Yellow:
Get Hippogryph on way out
Defeat Headhunter/Get Undine/Get Chronomage
Visit Forbidden Area
Small Detour to get Sky Fish
Another Small detour for Flesh Golem
Two souls: Mudman and Mimic (Mimic’s too far. I think go for Chaos Realm
Get Claimh Solais? (If I don’t get the Mimic, this won’t happen.)
Go to Chaos
Get any souls from Floating Garden I missed (or skipped over) plus Kicker Skeleton, Altair, Alastor, Demon Lord, Stolas, Shadow Knight, Giant Skeleton
(Chaos Ring?)