Emberbane Speedrun Guide: Any% Routes, Movement Tech & Boss Skips

Movement Tech — Speed Is Everything

Emberbane's movement system is built for speed. The game gives you a dash, a double jump, and a wall run. But the speedrun community has found ways to make these tools do things the developers never intended.

Dash Canceling

This is the most important technique in Emberbane speedrunning. Normally, your dash has a cooldown of about 1 second. But if you cancel the dash animation with a jump, the cooldown resets immediately. The timing is tight — you need to jump within 5 frames of starting the dash. If you do it right, you can chain dashes together infinitely, moving at about 3x normal sprint speed.

Practice this in the first area. Find a long corridor and practice dash-jump-dash-jump until it becomes muscle memory. Most runners spend their first hour of practice just on dash canceling.

Wall Run Extension

Your wall run lasts about 2 seconds before you fall off. But if you jump off the wall and immediately grab it again, the timer resets. This lets you stay on walls indefinitely. The trick is to jump at a 45-degree angle away from the wall, then immediately turn back and grab it. This is essential for the Tower section, where you need to scale a vertical shaft using wall runs.

Air Stall

By using your double jump at the apex of your first jump, you can "stall" in the air for a moment. This gives you enough time to adjust your trajectory. It's useful for tight platforming sections where you need to make precise landings. The air stall also resets your dash cooldown, letting you dash again after landing.

Roll Cancel

Your roll has a recovery animation that slows you down. But if you cancel the roll with a jump, you skip the recovery and maintain your speed. This is useful for rolling through enemy attacks without losing momentum. The timing is generous — you have about 10 frames to cancel the roll.

Any% Route — Current Meta (WR: 22:15)

The current world record for Emberbane Any% is 22 minutes and 15 seconds, held by a runner named PyroDash. The route has been refined through dozens of patches and discoveries.

Act 1: The Ashen Fields (0:00 – 5:00)

Start by grabbing the sword from the campfire — don't bother with any other items. Dash cancel through the fields, skipping all optional encounters. The first boss (The Scorched Knight) can be killed in 3 hits if you use the charged attack at the right moment. Wait for the boss to start its overhead slam, dodge to the side, and hit it with a fully charged attack. This stuns it for 3 seconds, letting you get 2 more hits in.

Act 2: The Ember Forest (5:00 – 11:00)

The forest has a lot of vertical platforming. Use wall run extension to skip the ground level entirely. Stay on the trees and dash between them. The second boss (The Warden) has a skip: if you stand on the exact center of the arena when the fight starts, the boss's AI breaks and it doesn't attack. This is a known bug that the community considers fair game for speedruns.

Act 3: The Tower (11:00 – 16:00)

The Tower is the hardest section to speedrun. The vertical shaft requires precise wall run extension and dash canceling. The third boss (The Sentinel) is a DPS check. Use your most damaging abilities immediately — don't save them. The boss has 3 phases, but if you deal enough damage in phase 1, you can skip phase 2 entirely.

Act 4: The Core (16:00 – 22:15)

The final area is a gauntlet of enemies leading to the final boss. Use roll cancel to maintain speed through the gauntlet. The final boss (The Ember King) has a consistent pattern. Memorize the attack timings and punish after each combo. The boss has 4 phases, but phases 2 and 3 are identical — only the attack speed changes.

Boss Skips — Complete List

• The Scorched Knight (Easy): Use charged attack after the overhead slam. Stuns the boss for 3 hits.
• The Warden (Easy): Stand on the center of the arena. Boss AI breaks and doesn't attack.
• The Sentinel (Medium): Deal enough damage in phase 1 to skip phase 2. Requires full ability usage.
• The Ember King (Hard): No skip, but you can speed up the fight by using abilities during the boss's attack animations. The boss takes damage during its wind-up.