Boktai 3: Any% Route

Work in Progress

This guide is currently being rewritten because of route improvements.
Feel free to contribute on Discord or on the GitHub repository.

About this guide

Directions for paths and exits will use ↖️, ↗️, ↙️ and ↘️.

When playing on BizHawk, load a ROM, go to GBA > Settings and make sure "Skip BIOS" and "RTC" are set to "False".
This requires at least BizHawk v2.6.3 and makes sure that Emulator runs are comparable to console and that you can properly set the time in-game.

Set the system time to July 28th 2002 at 23:55

2002 年 07 月 28 日
23 時 55 分

Setting up the Boktai 2 password

Create a new file, select the left option, then enter this password:

This password grants +2 VIT, +2 SPR, +2 STRG and the following items:

1 "The Sun" Card (recovers all ENE)
1 Speed Nut
1 "The Moon" Card (recovers all HP)

Use a single character for the player name (saves a few frames each time the name is displayed).

Prologue

The Sabata gameplay segment always lasts 30 seconds and no inputs are needed to survive.

Sealed Dungeon

After the dialogs, open the chest next to the stairs to get a icon Solar Nut.

Open the menu, change text speed to Fast (A, Down, Right, A):

Then go into the inventory, use a icon Solar Nut and a icon Speed Nut and proceed in the ↗️ direction.

Keep going without stopping. Once you reach the room with the 2 spiders, go to the right to get the icon Wizard Frame, then proceed in the ↖️ and ↗️ directions.

Skeleton Trap

Open the chest for a Solar Nut.
Open the menu, use the Solar Nut & equip the Wizard Frame.
Shoot the Skeleton until death.
You are now Lvl 2 (12 EXP).

Keep going until you reach the "+-shaped room", take the ↘️ path and step on the weight switch to get the icon Gradius.

In the next room, break the first block with the icon Gradius and fall to reach the ↖️ exit.

Then instead of getting close to the lever, switch to icon Wizard Frame and shoot to hit the lever from far away and skip an extra dialog, then proceed in the ↗️ direction.

Keep going, and when you reach the room with klorofoluns, get the hidden icon Speed Nut on the side of the stairs before proceeding in the ↗️ direction.

Armor Trap

Set sunlight to max.
Shoot once with Fight Frame.
Go on the skylight on the right.
Aim up, and when the armor is aligned, keep shooting in rhythm to stunlock & prevent it from raising its shield until the trap is over. (approx time ~16.84s)
You are now Lvl 4 (12 => 136 EXP).

After the trap proceed in the ↗️ direction to leave the dungeon.
Set the sunlight to 0.

San Miguel

Django's House

Talk to Violet & choose the first option.
Safety strat: Get the Luna Lens near the doll on the left.

Leave the house and visit the following places.
On Map screens you can use the shoulder buttons to navigate quickly.

Lita - Item Shop

Talk to Lita
Use a Speed Nut, then open all chests to get 2 Earthly Nuts & 2 Healers.
Sell the following items for money:
- 4 Earthly Nuts
- 2 Healers
- 1 "The Moon" Card (it'll be the one in the 2nd row of your inventory).

Solar Bank | Dark Loans

Transfer all Solls from the Solar Station to the Solar Bank (~500).

Clock Tower

Talk to Ennio (old man with glasses).
Talk to Ennio again and change the time to July 21st 2005 10PM. Minutes aren't important so you can keep these.
- 2005 年 07 月 21 日
- 22 時 XX 分
Ideally you should now have at least 2950 Solls (the cost necessary for the essential items for the route).

Garage

Talk to the guy in the back.

Lita - Item Shop 2

Buy 3 Power Nuts & sort your inventory before closing the shop menu and leaving.

Accessory Shop

Buy Iron Clogs & Crest of Diamonds.
Before leaving, open the chest to get the Leather Armor.

Solar Smith

Talk to Smith.
Talk to the first panel on the left.

Weapon Shop

Talk to Cheyenne to get Dash magic.
Buy Estoc & Rapier.

Library

Talk to Lady.

Inn

Talk to Zazie twice to get the Dark Card.

Now exit to the World Map and head to Lifeless Town.
You can check the Boktai 3 resource list for help with the Bike race.

Lifeless Town

Open the menu:

Heal with moon bugs & proceed in the ↗️ direction.
When you reach the room with 2 skeletons, take the ↗️ path.

Mission: Open the gate! (Light the torch)

Take the stairs in the upper-↖️ direction. Open the green chest to get icon Flame Lens.

Go back and go in front of the gate.
Equip icon Flame Lens & icon Wizard Frame to shoot at the torch.
Proceed in the ↗️ direction.

Skeletons Trap

Use Wizard Frame, start by shooting in the back
(136 => 224 EXP)

Proceed in the ↘️ direction.

Take the upper-↖️ path and take the elevator on the right.
After the elevator go through the ↗️ entrance.

Leave the room and fall on the spikes to reach the ↗️ entrance.
After the cutscene with Trinity, open the green chest for a icon +4 Stat card and open the blue chest to get the icon Circle Key.
Do NOT use the Card yet.

Leave the room and take the elevator on the right to go back down.
Take go through the ↘️ path & open the door to proceed in the ↗️ direction.

Armor Trap

Shoot once with Wizard Frame to force it to shield.
Get closer and use Gradius while aiming Up until the cutscene triggers. (approx time until cutscene: ~15.85s)
After the cutscene, spam B as Black Django.
You are now Lvl 6 (224 => 413 EXP).

Keep going in the ↗️ direction.
In the room with mummies, proceed in the ↗️ direction, then ↖️ twice.
Open the green chest to get the icon Hoop Frame.

Go back and proceed in the ↘️ direction.
Lure the ghoul on the weight switch, go through the ↗️ gate, then ↖️.

Mission: Find the yellow key!

Go up the stairs and dash above the traps to reach the last room.
Open the left chest first to get a Jerky, then open the blue chest to get the Triangle Key and trigger the cutscene.

Go through the yellow door, then take the ↘️ path.
After Otenko's dialogs, take the ↗️ path, then ↖️ twice.
Open the green chest to get the Trial Tire bike part.

Go back once and proceed in the ↗️ direction to reach the boss room.

During dialog, spam A (the 2nd option is faster by a few frame, only worth menuing for TAS).
Open the menu, put all your stat points into STR, equip icon Hoop Frame & icon Sol Lens, then go through the door.

The Count

Use Hoop Frame on the Count. Do not bother with the windows.
You are now Lvl 7 (413 => 662 EXP).

Coffin

Set sunlight to 0.
Use a Power Nut and start going back.

In the room where Otenko summons a solar circle, take the ↙️ path.
Push the wooden block on the weight switch, then go through the ↖️ path.
Push the iron block and take the ↙️ path.

Once you get past the room where you fought the Armor (brown door), take the ↖️ path and keep going towards the entrance of the dungeon (the other path is for a sidequest and takes longer to go through because of puzzles).

The Count Purification

Go at the bottom of the piledriver and use Wizard Frame to activate all of them in one shot. During the shot, walk and activate the piledriver as soon as all 4 of them have been hit to skip dialogs.
Start the purification and use Hoop Frame until the end.
(662 => 743 EXP)

San Miguel (2)

Item Shop

Buy 7 Power Nuts.

Ancient Tree

Enter the tree, then take the ↖️ & ↗️ paths.

Ghouls & Bats Trap

Use Hoop Frame & Sol Lens on Ghouls
Use Gradius on Bats.
You are now Lvl 8 (743 => 847 EXP).

Proceed through the ↘️ gate & take the elevator to reach 2F.
After the elevator, take the ↙️ and ↖️ paths.

Mission: Make the Solar Roots grow!

Proceed in the ↖️ direction, then ↗️ twice (you can pass from the left side in the room with purple slimes).

Puzzle

Use a Power Nut.
Push the first block once in ↗️ & ↖️ directions.
Push the second block ↗️ once & open the green chest to get the Earth Lens.

Go back, equip icon Earth Lens.
Grow the first plan, then alternate between the other 2 plans. Start with the left one because the right one will end the mission once fully grown.

Open the green chest on the left to get icon Dragoon Frame, then proceed in the ↗️ direction.

Push the blocks on the weight switches and take the elevator to reach 3F (if you are fast enough, the Power Nut will still be active).

Proceed in the ↙️ twice, then ↖️ and ↙️ once each.

Equip icon Iron Clogs to negate the solar wind.

On the way, grow the plan to create a shortcut. Hug the left side when dashing towards it to prevent the bulb from exploding. Replenish your energy and re-enter the tree from the ↘️ path, then:

Unequip Iron Clogs.
Equip Leather Armor.
Equip Crest of Diamonds.
Unequip Gradius.
Equip Estoc.
Put all stat points in STRG.

Earth Armor Trap

Dash once to go under the skylight.
Use Hoop Frame to shoot once.
Use Estoc to stunlock. You can prevent it from raising its shield if your position is good enough.
When the shield breaks, move away because the Armor will spin, then go back to stunlocking with Estoc.
You are now Lvl 9 (847 => 1152 EXP).

Open the green chest to get the Einherjar bike part, then proceed in the ↗️ direction.
After the cutscene, take the ↘️ path twice.

As soon as you enter the room, dash towards the nearest platform to take the ↘️ path.
Push the iron block, then go back and take the other platform.
During this room you can set the sunlight to 0 to delay overheating a bit.

Kill the 3 klorofoluns that hovers above the last moving platform with icon Hoop Frame (1152 => 1165 EXP).
This isn't about getting EXP, but rather an extra TRC block for later.

After the last platform, take the ↘️ path, then ↙️.
Grow the plan near the end of the room, then leave through the ↙️ path.
If you don't have enough energy, you can use icon "The Sun" Card (it'll be the one in the first row of your inventory).

After the cutscene about the beehive, go in the ↖️ direction and push the elemental blocks to activate the elevator.

Take the elevator to reach 4F & proceed in the ↘️ direction.

Spiders & Golem Trap

Open the menu and put all your points into STRG.
Use Estoc.
Start with the golem, then the spiders. They should be more or less grouped together after killing the golem.
(1165 => 1247 EXP)

Proceed in the ↙️ direction twice.

Replenish life and energy, then set sunlight between 1 and 8 to make the solar platform appear.
Use it to reach the green chest and get the icon Chain Mail, then go back inside the tree.

Grow the plants to take the ↖️ path, then proceed through the ↙️ and ↖️ paths.

Mission: Find the Red Key!

Use Fighter Frame & Fire Lens.
Go on the platform near you and light the 2 torches to open the ↖️ gate (you can shoot the 1st torch by shooting straight UP while on the platform).
In the next room, light the 5 torches (only Fighter Frame allows you to light all 5 in one trip because of the delay between shots and the lack of recoil, you can also shoot the first torch by aiming to the left while on the platform).
Continue in the ↘️ direction twice.
Open the hidden blue chest to get the Circle Key, then go back and open the door.

After opening the door, proceed in the ↗️ direction.

Puzzle

Use a Power Nut.
Take the elevator to reach 5F.

Take the ↘️ path, then ↗️ twice. You should be in a room with ghouls, proceed in the ↖️ direction, then ↙️ 3 times.

Then take the ↖️ path to go outside.
Equip icon Iron Clogs, then go through the room, make sure to grow the plant before taking the ↘️ path.
Proceed through the ↗️ entry, and take the elevator to reach the boss.

Hresvelgr

You are expected to be missing 2 TRC blocks at the start of this fight.
Use use Hoop Frame until the TRC gauge is full.
You can Dark Trans and spam B right away, however the boss will get invulnerable and begin his wind attack.
After the dialog, ignore Trinity and spam B with Dark Trans until the fight is over.
You are now Lvl 11 (1247 => 1747 EXP).

During the dialog, just hold B and choose the first option.

Coffin

Open the menu and:

Turn off the sunlight.
Put all points into STRG.
Unequip Iron Clogs.
Use a Power Nut.

Take the elevator and start going back to the entrance of the dungeon.
Use the grown plant outside as a shortcut, then go back inside the tree and take the ↘️ path.
Set sunlight to max, put the coffin on the first weight switch, then use icon Dash to step on the other one.

Grab the coffin and go through the ↗️ gate, use another icon Power Nut after the current one runs out.

Then take the elevator to go back to 4F.

Take the ↙️ path, walk on the weight switch to go through the ↘️ gate.
Then take the ↗️ path to reach the elevator and go back to 3F.

Go through the ↘️ gate.
Kill the green slime with icon Estoc, use icon Dash and open the green chest for a icon +4 Stat card (1747 => 1765 EXP).
Do NOT use the Card yet.

Then take the ↗️ path, walk on the grown plant & the iron block to continue in the ↖️ direction.
You can reach the moving platform without using another icon Power Nut, so wait until you've reached the other side before using another one.

Then proceed in the ↖️ direction twice (watch out for the centipede), then ↙️ twice and ↖️ again to go outside.
Use the grown plant as a shortcut, stay on the left to prevent the bulb from exploding.
Take the ↘️ and ↗️ paths to go back inside the tree.

Proceed in the ↘️ direction (watch out for the golems), then ↗️ twice to take the elevator to go back to 2F.

Go through the ↙️ and ↘️ paths, then go towards the ↗️ path, be careful when passing next to the bulb.

Take the elevator to go back to 1F.

Proceed in the ↖️ direction, then ↙️, ↘️ and ↙️ twice to reach the purification area. The Power Nut effect should stop where the dialog begins.

Hresvelgr Purification

Go at the bottom of the piledriver and use Wizard Frame to activate all of them in one shot. During the shot, walk and activate the piledriver as soon as all 4 of them have been hit to skip dialogs.
Start the purification and use Hoop Frame until the end.
During the purification do NOT avoid attacks & take damage on purpose, ideally you want to be at least in orange (40% Life).
(1765 => 1879 EXP)

Dash in the ↙️ direction to trigger the next cutscene. Turn off the sunlight when it begins.

The Count

The Count will do 2 bat attacks: get hit on purpose until you reach critical (red) Life.
The Count will now use Blood Rain and trigger the cutscene (by already being in critical state you won't have to wait as long).
After the cutscene use B and Sol Trans until the fight is over.
Note: unlike Dark Trans, the timing when pressing B matters. Sol Trans has the possibility to attack faster than Dark Trans, however timing is more strict and attacks does NOT stun enemies.

San Miguel (3)

Django's House

Equip the Trial Tire bike part to be able to drive on mud during bike races.
Equip Einherjar bike part (lower acceleration, higher speed).

Item Shop

Buy 4 Power Nuts.

White Forest

After the dialog, proceed in the ↗️ & ↖️ directions.
Enter the cave and reach the end to get icon Bomber Frame.

Open the menu and:

Unequip Fighter Frame.
Equip Bomber Frame.
Equip Rapier.
Unequip Estoc.
Put all points in STRG.

Then go back, and after exiting the cave, take the ↘️ direction twice, then ↗️ twice to enter a cave.

RNG manip

The goal of this RNG manip is to get a icon Burning Headband and a total of +12 Strength from cards that would otherwise give points to a random stat.

Video

Many steps during this manip are time sensitive because of how RNG works!
If you struggle with the manip or have further questions, please contact us and we'll help you!

Once inside the cave, save and do a soft-reset (Press A, B, Start and Select at the same time. You can buffer that input while it's still saving).
Set the time to July 21st 2005 10PM (2005/07/21 22:00):
Buffer the up + right input to start walking as soon as possible. Keep walking in the ↗️ direction until you are past the chest and very close to the wall.
With the Sol Lens, shoot at the Red Slime two times. (1879 => 1905 EXP)
- You must attack the Red Slime as soon as you arrive at the target location. Once it has split, both halves must die at the same time.
If your timing was right, the Red Slime will have dropped a Burning Headband.
Get the drop and open the green chest for a +4 Stat card.
Use any of the three red stat cards you have picked up so far. It should give you +4 STRG.
Make sure to have sunlight and leave the cave. (Without sunlight it will be snowing outside which changes the RNG)
Mash Start to open the menu as soon as possible.
- You have about 0.5 seconds to open the menu! Otherwise the RNG will change because the sunlight killed the enemies outside.
Now use the two remaining +4 Stat cards to get +8 STRG.

Now proceed in the ↖️ direction to trigger the cutscene with Trinity.

Mission: Open the cave

Use Bomber Frame to open the entrance.

Then enter the cave via the ↖️ entrance, then the ↗️ & ↘️, ↗️ & ↘️ directions.

Hotdog & Vamp Trap

Use Rapier.
You are now Lvl 12 (1905 => 2089 EXP)
Open the green chest for Frost Lens.

Go back to the entrance of the cave, where the Centipede is. Take the ↖️ entrance.

Puzzle

Push the 1st block in the ↖️ direction.
Push the 2nd block ↗️ & ↖️.

Go through the ↗️ entrance & use icon Frost Lens on the flame to go on the weight switch.

After the cutscene go back in the ↙️, ↘️ & ↗️ directions & keep going.

Frost Armor Trap

Shoot once to make the armor raise its shield & prevent it from moving.
Use Sol Trans to finish it.
Try moving towards the exit while attacking.
You are now Lvl 13 (2089 => 2616 EXP)

After the cutscene with Carmilla, take the ↖️ exit, then ↗️ 4 times. You should now be in a room where a mummy explodes: proceed in the ↖️ direction.

After the cutscene, slide on the ice to proceed in this ↗️ direction.

Mission: Open the door!

Proceed in the ↖️ direction twice.

Puzzle

Push the block on the left towards the ↖️ direction.
Melt the first block on the right with Flame Lens.
Push the second block on the right in the ↖️ direction.
Step on the weight switch on the right.
Open the chest to get the Circle Key.
Go back in the ↘️ direction twice & open the door to continue in the ↗️ direction.

Go down the stairs & take the ↖️ exit.

Puzzle

Use a Power Nut.
Push the block in front of you in the ↙️ direction like this:
Walk on the weight switch & push the block at the top on it.
Walk around & push the 1st bottom block on the weight switch behind it.
Push the last block (the one that used to in front of you when you entered the room) on the last weight switch.

Proceed in the ↗️ direction & use icon Frost Lens to extinguish the candle. Go back to the puzzle room, then take the ↘️ path once & ↗️ path twice.

Equip Rapier.
Put all stat points in STRG.
Replenish life.

Sabata

1st phase

Lure Sabata by knocking on the block next to you.
Attack with Rapier to force him to do his spinning attack.
Evade with Dash, then hit the dark spread with Rapier to stun him.
Hit Sabata with a 3-hits combo using Rapier.
Repeat until phase 2.

Keyboard shortcuts

Boktai Speedrunning