[TAS] Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment any% in

Frame count: 126254
Re-record count: 26815

Done on the linux DRM-free version (3.3) using my own-made TAS tools (https://github.com/clementgallet/libTAS).

The route is very close to the unassisted speedrun route. Stage order is the same, curios and upgrades are identical. The main difference is that I don't take the 4th darkness upgrade because it barely saves time (about 1 sec in Stranded Ship), except if a cycle can be saved during the last boss.

There are very few techniques that are specific to the TAS, mainly:

hop slash: by slashing on the ground and jumping one or two frames after, you will slash at the beginning of your jump without triggering any dash slash. This is very useful to attack enemies in the air if they are low enough, or to move while slashing. The only inconvenient is that the slash starts after the jump, so you loose 1/2 frames compared to a grounded slash

fast fall: by pressing jump again during a jump for at least two frames, it will instantly cancel upward velocity and Specter will start to fall. This is very useful to make very short jumps (for starting rails or breaking blocks from jumping) and more generally by having more control in jump trajectories. However, it only works for regular grounded jumps, it does not work on walljumps, dash slashes, fans, green jelly boosts, etc. Also, it does not work underwater.

Huge thanks to the Shovel Knight discord community for their feedback, advices and enthusiasm!