- The True Dovakhiin: Skyrim Trophy Guide - December 19, 2022
- Titanfall 2 Speedrun Guide - October 23, 2022
- Majora’s Mask Speedrun Guide - October 23, 2022
Titanfall 2 is a science fiction first-person shooter that allows players to control massive mechs and freerunning as nimble pilots. The game features a massive sandbox of gear and mechanics that allow players to fly around levels and decimate all that stand in their way. The sheer freedom that Titanfall 2 gives to players when it comes to movement and navigation makes it a great candidate for speedrunning. So, if you want to speed through Titanfall 2‘s campaign at blistering speeds, here is everything you could need to know.
Key Info Up Front
- Category:Â Any%
- World Record Holder:Â Blaidan
- World Record Time:Â 01:16:05
Titanfall 2 Overview
A speedrun through Titanfall 2 requires players to run through its entire campaign. Thankfully, the game’s campaign is a fantastic series of levels that are filled with fun encounters and arenas for speedrunners to experiment with and optimize. Speedrunning the game will require you to learn every level in the game inside and out, on top of mastering intricate movement techniques to keep their momentum going.
My favorite part of Titanfall 2 speed runs, however, is how its mechanics and levels allow players to find their own unique path to take through them rather than following the most popular path. This brings a lot of runner expression and creativity to Titanfall 2, which makes every run fun to watch. However, this does require speedrunners to spend a lot of time experimenting and defining their own path before working on shaving off minutes and improving their time.
Titanfall 2 Movement Techniques
The majority of Titnfall 2 speed runs use different movement techniques to move through levels as quickly as possible. So, I want to take a deep dive into the different techniques that you’ll need to learn. Once you’ve mastered these moves, I recommend experimenting with all of the game’s levels and finding your own path to optimize through them.
Sliding
Sliding is one of the most basic movement techniques that you will be using most of the time while you’re on the ground. To slide, you’ll need to crouch while running. Importantly, the start of sliding gives you a small speed boost, but it is kept on a two-second timer, preventing players from spamming slides to fly across the map.
Slide Hops
Slide Hops come in to allow players to preserve the momentum gained from the boost received while sliding. You will still lose some momentum through Slide Hopping, but it will extend your speed from a slide boost for much longer than normal.
To perform Slide Hops, you need to keep your crouch held after starting a slide and then jump into the air. Then, whenever you land on the ground, you need to jump again. It is important to get the rhythm of this action down, as the longer you stay on the ground between jumps, the more momentum you will lose. This technique is at the core of Titanfall 2‘s more advanced movement strings, so make sure you master this before attempting the techniques further on in this section.
B-Hops
Since Titanfall 2 is made on a modified version of Valve’s Source Engine, players can also use Bunny Hops or B-Hops. These work similarly to Slide Hops but see the player standing the entire time rather than sliding in between jumps. While this is still a viable movement option, it tends to be slower than some more advanced slides that we’ll cover below.
Air Strafing
Another holdover from the Source Engine, Air Strafing, is paramount for picking up speed while moving. To do so, players have to turn left and right while Hopping to gradually accelerate their movement. This works by overriding the engine’s caps on forwarding acceleration, allowing players to continually build speed and set up for bigger movement strings.
To do this, your inputs should be:
- Jump
- Strafe Right
- Jump
- Strafe Left
- Repeat
There are a few important elements to keep in mind when it comes to Air Strafes, however. The first is that it can also be used to navigate tight corners or to make it across gaps that weren’t meant to be crossed. It is also important to know that the air acceleration in Titanfall 2 is toned down from some popular Source games like Half-Life 2. This causes players to have to not Strafe too quickly, or they will actually lose speed in the process.
Strafe Lurches
A Strafe Lurch is actually a negative that you’ll want to avoid while Strafing. It happens when your input direction changes too quickly after jumping, so you’ll want to make sure to input directional changes right before jumping instead. This mechanic will be used for some techniques further below, but it does slow down your momentum, so you’ll want to avoid it happening every time you jump.
Tap Strafing
Tap Strafing is one of the easiest ways to take advantage of Strafe Lurches. It allows you to make much faster turns than you otherwise would be able to while keeping most of your momentum. To perform a Tap Strafe, you’ll need to tap forward multiple times quickly while changing directions during your standard strafing.
This will lurch your character around, helping them make tight corners they otherwise wouldn’t be able to. So, you will most often be using Tap Strafing to navigate tight hallways or interiors where you want to maintain your momentum without bouncing off the walls and ceiling.
Lurchless Double Jumps
Double Jumps are a necessary basic movement to reach higher areas in Titanfall 2‘s levels and to avoid obstacles while traversing. However, double jumping normally incurs a lurch that will slow down your momentum. Luckily, there is a way to avoid this, called a Lurchless Double Jump.
Since lurches occur when inputting a key and jumping, avoiding them requires you to instead release a key while jumping. This may sound counterintuitive, but it is actually rather simple. If you are Air Strafing right and need to double jump, you first need to hold left while still holding right. Then, when you press jump to execute the Double Jump, you need to release right at the same exact time. This allows you to get in the Double Jump and start Strafing left without triggering a lurch.
Wall Running
Now it’s time to look at the second most important component of freerunning in Titanfall 2: walls. Running across walls is a huge part of navigation and speed throughout your playthrough, and there are a lot of techniques related to them. To trigger a base wall run, all you need to do is jump into it and continue holding forward to run on it. It is also important to note that beginning a wall run and performing a wall jump trigger a small boost of speed that we will want to be harnessing and preserve as much as possible with the following techniques.
Wall Jump Arc
This technique is one of the most commonly used throughout Titanfall 2 runs. When you jump off a wall, you are automatically sent away from it diagonally. To preserve the momentum gained from jumping, however, you can Air Strafe back toward the wall you just jumped from. This will both increase your speed and extend the distance of your jump.
Lurchless Wall Jumps
When jumping off of walls, however, it is also important to consider mitigating the chance of being penalized with a lurch while changing direction. This is very important when using the above Wall Jump Arc and works very similarly to Lurchless Double Jumps.
Since you have to always hold forward to wall run, avoiding lurches from wall jumps is as easy as holding the direction you want to strafe after jumping down before you jump. Then, once you’re in the air, you can release your forward input, allowing you to start strafing in the desired direction without pressing a new key and lurching.
Wall Kicks
This is a straightforward piece of tech that refers to jumping instantly when meeting with a wall. This keeps you from losing any momentum from running along the wall for an extended period of time.
Strafe Kicks
Strafe Kicks are really just a method of Wall Kicking without lurching. To perform one, you have to have a strafe held toward the wall, press forward as you Wall Kick, and then release it immediately afterward. This will allow you to get the Wall Kick in without registering a lurching input so that you can maintain all of your speed and direction. This trick is extremely difficult, however, so expect to practice it a lot before being comfortable doing it consistently.
Neutral Strafe Kicks
A Neutral Strafe Kick is a variant of the Strafe Kick that sees you holding both left, right, and forward while performing a Strafe Kick. This is especially useful because it prevents your movement from getting interrupted by getting stuck to the wall or disturbing your timing by moving away from it. It also allows you to move in either direction after your Strafe Kick, giving you more options and creativity.
Double Wall Kick
Double Wall Kicks are a niche tech that is not a core part of most common run paths. However, I recommend learning it to have another tool in your belt when it comes to improvisation during runs. The tech allows you to Wall Kick off the same wall twice. To do this, you have to Wall Kick off the wall before falling slightly and wall Kicking off it again, but at a lower height than the first one.
Wall Bumps
Wall Bumps are another niche tech but are very simple and useful in tight spaces. They allow you to get a slight height boost when jumping off a wall, as well as refreshing your double jump without having to land back on the ground. To perform a Wall Bump, you have to start holding crouch just before you hit a wall and then release it as you do.
Coyote Time
Coyote Time is another feature of the Source Engine that allows players to jump a few seconds after running off the edge of a wall. This can be used to extend jumps by starting them further out than the wall would normally allow players to. It also plays a key role in the next two boost techs.
Edgeboost
Edgeboosts are gained while jumping in the Coyote Time window from a right-angle corner. This allows you to get a speed boost similar to the one gained from Wall Kicking, but at the end of a wall run. This can help you pick up speed in areas of the game where you normally wouldn’t have an option to.
You can also get an Edgeboost regardless of when you jump in Coyote Time. This means that you should try to do so as late as possible to get the most distance from the jump. Furthermore, you can make your Edgeboost lurchless by following the same inputs used for Lurchless Wall Jumps.
Endboost
Endboost is similar to Edgeboost but can be executed from any wall. Titanfall 2 only allows players to wall run for 1.75 seconds before kicking them off the wall and making them fall. If you jump just as you’re getting kicked off the wall, you receive a similar boost, helping you gain back speed after a lengthy wall run.
The best way to time an Endboost is by jumping as the tilted camera of the wall run starts to turn vertical. You can also hear a sound cue of your wall run ending that you can use as a marker for when to jump off the wall as well. However, Endboosts do send you away from the wall at a strict angle that you’ll want to familiarize yourself with to incorporate in your runs.
Crouched Forced Endboost
The worst part of Endboosts is that you have to run on a wall for so long before activating it. This saps a lot of the player’s momentum on top of keeping them on a strict path along the wall. Thankfully, there is a method to force an Endboost before being kicked out of a wall run.
To do this, you’ll need to make your character fall off the wall by pressing crouch at the same time as you press jump. This will make you fall from the wall and then jump, getting the full Endboost effect regardless of how long you’ve been on the wall. It is also important to note that these are prone to lurches if you don’t hold into the wall as you jump off.
Crouch Kicks
Crouch Kicks are a relatively new introduction to the Titanfall 2 speedrunning community and effectively revolutionized the community. They are performed by combining a Crouched Forced Endboost with a Wall Kick to get the boosts from both simultaneously. To do so, you can do a standard Wall Kick, but press crouch at the same time as you press jump.
Miscellaneous Tech
Superglides
Superglides allow you to get a burst of speed immediately after exiting a cutscene and regaining control of your character. They can only be performed on levels where you don’t have a double jump and that feature higher gravity, however, so their use is limited.
To perform a Superglide, you need to hold sprint during the cutscene. Then, when you gain control of your character, you have to release sprint while pressing both crouch and jump. This will give you a sudden burst, allowing you to fly off from the start of the level and begin your path through it much sooner.
Frag Boost
This tech allows players to use the explosion of a frag grenade to quickly accelerate their movement. There are two important aspects of a Frag Boost to consider. The first is where you want to place the grenade. You’ll need to find a place that works well in your path through the level while also accounting for where you will be in relation to the grenade.
The second factor to consider is getting far enough away from the grenade so that the explosion boosts your movement without killing you. The spacing for this can be very tricky to get at first. The best way to learn it, however, is through practice, so make sure to just experiment with it to get a sense of the distancing you’re looking for.
Bump Launch
Bump Launch is very useful for the few moments in Titanfall 2 when the player has to climb vertically during a level. It allows you to soar into the air at incredible speed. To perform one, you first need to crouch in a corner and press in toward it with your movement. Then, you can mash the jump button to rapidly jump up the wall and be launched after reaching the top.
Extended Slide
Extended Slides are a slight modification to general slide hopping. The tech allows you to avoid the artificial shortening of successive jumps in Titanfall 2 by sliding for just a little while between hops. This will greatly increase the verticality of the jumps that you make, allowing you to create different chains and make it over gaps.
Half Slide
Half Slides are another alternative to a standard Slide Hop. It is performed by releasing crouch while in the air and pressing it as you hit the ground. I do not recommend doing this throughout an entire Slide Hop sequence, but it is a useful tech to have available to you when you need it.
This is because Half Slides allow you to extend your character’s legs down to reach surfaces that you otherwise would go over with a traditional Slide Hop. It is best used to save yourself from a mistake if you gain too much speed or take a wrong angle and are about to overshoot a surface that you intended to jump off.
Titan Disembark Tech
Even though moving as a pilot is considerably faster in Titanfall 2 than anything players can do in a titan, there are moments where players have to use them to progress in the story. Luckily, there are some handy techs to be used when disembarking from a titan that helps make their involvement in a run more worthwhile.
Disembark Jump
Disembark Jumps are exactly what they sound like. They are executed by inputting and holding a jump as your character leaves the cockpit of their Titan, giving them a serious height boost. After using this jump, you’ll also still have a double jump, allowing you to reach even higher places on the map with ease.
Disembark Boost
Disembark Boosts require you to hold crouch and forward as you exit a titan, allowing you to slide out of your Titan with a burst of speed. It is important to remember, however, that this tech can only be performed when disembarking on level ground and will not work on an incline.
Titanfall 2 General Tips
Set Language to Mandarin
Setting the game’s language to Mandarin will help you shave down seconds from the dialogue sections throughout the campaign. While this will make any command prompts and objective text unreadable if you don’t know Mandarin, you should become familiar enough with the game’s entire campaign to not need the text anyways.
Titan Swapping
When you reach boss fights that require you to use your Titan for boss fights, I highly recommend the Tone loadout until you get the Scorch loadout because of how fast their damage outputs are. One particularly useful thing to use during these fights is quickly swapping between Titan loadouts to skip the Titan’s slow reloading animations. For the sections where you don’t have to fight as your Titan, I recommend swapping to the Sword loadout, as this will allow you to quickly dash through level sections like an anime legend.
Find Your Own Flow
There is a lot to learn from watching the speedrun routes and runs of veteran runners, but I can’t stress enough how important it is to find your own methods and preferences as well. This is not only where most of the fun of speedrunning lies but is especially important in Titanfall 2 because of the game’s freedom and options.
FAQs
Question: What is the Fastest Titanfall 2 Speedrun Category?
Answer: The fastest category is Gauntlet, which challenges players to make it through the game’s opening firing range as quickly as possible. Most high-level runs of the Gauntlet have gotten their completing time down to 11 seconds or less.
Question: How Long is Titanfall 2’s Campaign?
Answer: The single-player campaign of Titanfall 2 takes around six hours to complete normally, but Any% speedruns can get it down to just over an hour.
Question: Do Console Titanfall 2 Players Have Lurch?
Answer: No, console players do not have to deal with lurch when speedrunning Titanfall 2. While this can be a very nice exclusion for those speedrunners, it also prevents them from using lurch to their advantage for traversing tight spaces and completing quick turns.
Conclusion
Titanfall 2 is one of the fastest and most intricate first-person shooters ever released. This not only makes it a blast to play normally but also brings a lot to the table for the game as a speedrunning candidate. So, if you love speed runs that combine a lot of intricate tech or that move at blistering speeds, Titanfall 2 is your one-stop shop.
Continue reading: