Herp derp, saves up to a second I think? Though I'm comparing with a save that doesn't have Long, Wave OR Charge so I can't do the normal strat optimally.
It's also a bit harder than it looks, which is already pretty hard ;).
So I'm trying out a 100% route, and I think i have one that i'm gonna stick to; this is probably the best single-segment route to do for 100% unless you can think of any improvements.
-Late Long Beam
-Early Brinstar Cleanup
-Acid Worm Skip + Late Kraid Cleanup
-Lower Norfair Cleanup
-Late Ice Beam
So, doing the AWS route is no problem with long beam, since your missile count should generally be fine (I usully have ~20 by kraid, which is just enough to reliably kill him with a good fight). However, you use a few extra missiles if you do late long beam (I use 3 to clear the blocks for AWS quickly), so missile count will be unreliably low, and if you don't get a single drop from sidehoppers... good luck.
So I decided to get the brinstar missile tank detour BEFORE Kraid, rather than just before toruian. Yes, it's a 1-2 second loss, but it makes AWS+late long beam much more reliably in Kraid, and I find myself reliably having ~22ish missiles at Kraid, rather than 17-18 (17, you can't miss a single missile on kraid...)
Also, three e-tanks before norfair is just enough to reliably make it through the first big heated room in norfair. The problem is, AWS saves ~15 seconds by skipping a refill in kraid, but in return, with upper norfair cleanup (and/or early ice beam i guess...), you basically HAVE to refill thanks to extra heated rooms; if I didn't do AWS, and I did upper norfair cleanup, then I can skip refills in norfair, so AWS would save only 10 seconds.
BUT by doing lower norfair cleanup + AWS, I can skip refilling both in Kraid and in Norfair. I tried this out, and while it's risky, I think it's very much viable single-segment (obviously not recommended in races), and I'll be using this route for my single-segment attempts. It's challenging and punishing, but also fun and rewarding :D
I can do AWS around 70% of the time now, so I can definitely put it in serious attempts, or even races.
-Late Long Beam
-Early Brinstar Cleanup
-Acid Worm Skip + Late Kraid Cleanup
-Lower Norfair Cleanup
-Late Ice Beam
So, doing the AWS route is no problem with long beam, since your missile count should generally be fine (I usully have ~20 by kraid, which is just enough to reliably kill him with a good fight). However, you use a few extra missiles if you do late long beam (I use 3 to clear the blocks for AWS quickly), so missile count will be unreliably low, and if you don't get a single drop from sidehoppers... good luck.
So I decided to get the brinstar missile tank detour BEFORE Kraid, rather than just before toruian. Yes, it's a 1-2 second loss, but it makes AWS+late long beam much more reliably in Kraid, and I find myself reliably having ~22ish missiles at Kraid, rather than 17-18 (17, you can't miss a single missile on kraid...)
Also, three e-tanks before norfair is just enough to reliably make it through the first big heated room in norfair. The problem is, AWS saves ~15 seconds by skipping a refill in kraid, but in return, with upper norfair cleanup (and/or early ice beam i guess...), you basically HAVE to refill thanks to extra heated rooms; if I didn't do AWS, and I did upper norfair cleanup, then I can skip refills in norfair, so AWS would save only 10 seconds.
BUT by doing lower norfair cleanup + AWS, I can skip refilling both in Kraid and in Norfair. I tried this out, and while it's risky, I think it's very much viable single-segment (obviously not recommended in races), and I'll be using this route for my single-segment attempts. It's challenging and punishing, but also fun and rewarding :D
I can do AWS around 70% of the time now, so I can definitely put it in serious attempts, or even races.