Uploaded July 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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A few disclaimers:
The load remover and autosplitter aren't currently working on the new DLC patch, so runs during this early launch period are currently having to be timed with loading times included.
In addition, I used start and end times that are not what they're going to be once said utilities get developed. Time normally starts AFTER the fadeout upon file select, and ends immediately upon the final hit of Chef Saltbaker. Since I was having to manually split, I chose slightly different start and end times for my own convenience. If I was using those timing points, this run would be closer to a 13:12 I guess.

Anyway, this is an Any% Speedrun of the new Cuphead DLC! I've been loving everything about it so far and it has been incredibly fun to route and practice everything it has to offer, as well. I decided I would start by running some Any% to get more comfortable with the new bosses.
A lot of the DLC bosses are very, very mobile, especially compared to the base game's bosses. For that reason, I believe using Charge and Spread is one of the best weapon combos. Spreadshot is still the weapon with the highest DPS in the game by far, but there are many scenarios where it's simply not possible to keep close distance with a boss constantly. Charge can cover for that.
Getting this weapon combo requires 12 coins, which takes some time to collect, but luckily the DLC offers a few more easily accessible coins that make it possible get it before having to fight a single boss.
An alternative route seems to be to buy a DLC weapon (like Twist-Up) and Charge, and using that. This makes for much slower bosses, but takes less time to collect. It's still a bit up in the air as for what's going to end up being faster for this category, but my hunch is that Charge/Spread is still going to win out in the end.

There are a few glitches that have been found that would save time in a speedrun, but I have not managed to replicate them or understand them yet. I have seen phase freezes on Esther Winchester and on Chef Saltbaker. The latter one would be particularly huge (although I have to say, I don't like how it looks. Chef Saltbaker is such an epic, climactic fight that it just feels wrong to glitch him out completely in phase 1). I have a hunch they might work similarly to how the Hilda Glitch works in version 1.0, where you have to deal a specific amount of damage within a tight time frame, but as I said, I have not managed to replicate them yet, not even on accident.

This run is surely gonna be beaten in no time, but I will probably wait on pushing this time down until there's a working load remover. I am going to start routing DLC 100% now!


My controls:
Jump: Right Bumper
Shoot: Left Trigger
Ex Shoot: A
Switch Weapon: X
Lock: Left Bumper
Dash: Y

Twitch channel: twitch.tv/sbdwolf