Many people have probably asked themselves that one question; "When should I start going for the deathless run?". You can start trying getting a run right now, regardless of your progress through the main game, although your fingers and life are going to be ever so grateful if you master some things before you start going for the run. I recommend mastering every aspect of jumping - that means to play the DLC "Secret Of The Entity". It's perhaps even counter-productive to plan playing no-death runs only after you finish the game with that delicious 106% completion. I advise seeing this insane achievement as separate from the main game (as it's not even in the achievements list).

After people start to begin, a next question follows; "Where do I begin?". If you are reading this guide, you may have tried to do a deathless run before - and if you haven't, then it's definitely a good place to start. Something I saw being asked around a lot is whether it is a good idea to use a keyboard in preference to a gamepad. My answer is that it is totally subjective. It's totally up to you, if you are comfortable using a keyboard, definitely stick with it!

- Go through all the chapters in order a couple of times. Which levels do you seem to die on the most? Those are the ones you should practice the most, along with the Suicide Run and levels where you stand "against the timer".

- Which levels do you seem to have the most trouble with? This is not the same as the point above. You are going to find yourself practicing these levels alongside the ones that you die on a lot. This point is here because, in the last few levels of a deathless run, you will stress out (and trust me, if you don't, this becomes a hell lot easier).

- The deathless run doesn't necessarily mean starting a new game and playing over, so you can also play from a save game where you finished all the main levels already - doing the levels in order is a good thing, though, because the levels (for the most part casually) step up the difficulty. And also you'll spare the speedrun.com verifiers so much time by playing on a new save file :)

- Do not care about time. Time is not an essential factor in this type of a run. You are trying to get a deathless run, not the fastest one. Feel free to look around the level using the 'M' key on your keyboard, take your time.

- Frustration is imminent. You can't expect to get a deathless run without getting frustrated; I've found that the best thing to do is to leave the game for a short while and try again when you think you can focus a little better. Manage your time, this is very likely to take 90 minutes minimal if you're not a very professional and skillful player.

As you progress through the game, levels will get harder. But, so do you get consistently better and better at playing them. What did you learn from your first deathless attempt? Maybe there were some levels that you thought you could do every time, and that really, you couldn't? You should be constantly using your experience to shape your play-style. I find the hardest levels being either the ones with lasers, or the ones with repulsors. It doesn't matter if it seems too ambitious to actually go for a deathless run right away, but in a chapter you are very fond of you are likely to surprise yourself with how well you can do.

- Practise every level over a few times separately, even if you think you're already a professional at them. Practice blocks of a few levels. This will make you ready for the 5th chapter, where it is crucial to move blocks to progress. Doing this, you can also know what level you're about to face without really having to think about it too much.

- Don't take it seriously until your practice period is over. Have fun playing. If you don't, you will not enjoy getting the achievement as much, and you're more likely to get too frustrated and give up.

- Don't think speedrunning is a bad thing in deathless runs. If you are a speedrunner, you don't need to find a different, slower, or a safer path through any level. If you are comfortable dashing through a level you'll probably find it easier sticking to your fast path. Further more, speedrunning through a level in a deathless run feels and is more epic.

Frustration is one of the biggest problems you'll face. After all, it's way more horrible to die on the last level in a run than on the 12th one. I've always found that getting frustrated, although it makes me more determines to get the achievement, does detriment my dexterity and skill, making it physically impossible to get a decent run even past the first two chapters. If this happens, the best thing you can do is take a break. This could be 30 minutes to calm yourself down, or for more difficult levels or chapters you may want to leave it for days or even weeks to start fresh. This might sound super counter-intuitive, but it will totally get rid of the frustration, and you won't be as annoyed or bored with any level in particular.

I figured the chapters, or even the individual levels themselves may cause problems for someone reading this guide - I know they did for me. This is where your and the community's help makes a difference in this guide. If there is a level you are struggling with, please contact me and I will add the level here as soon as I can. Thank you beforehand!







(Referred to as levels "against time", the last suicide run, or blackboxes.)

Thank you for taking your time to read this, and I hope I've been helpful to you and your journey of awesomeness! This is my first guide, so it will by no means be perfect. It will be updated frequently as per the last section of the guide, and also to sort out typos and outdates information.

I will (or atleast plan to) respond to suggestions and criticism, usually within 48 hours, and will answer any questions you may have, change any errors you've spotted, or add something to the guide itself. I will add any requested levels to the "Help For Individual Chapters" section. Also, while at it, please rate the guide! I appreciate the feedback.

So now, it's up to you. Good luck, I'm proud of you for even thinking about a deathless run, mate. Of course, above all, enjoy your hunt and grind!