Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment

MISSABLE

For this trophy/Feat to unlock, it has to be done on a New Game and not New Game+. The deciding factor for whether or not this trophy/Feat unlocks is the total playtime associated with your save file. When you start New Game+, the playtime for that playthrough is added to the time from your previous playthrough. As such, doing this on New Game+ is out of the question.

Make extra copies of your save file. After you complete a stage and return to the Tower, quit to the Title Screen and check your total playtime on your speedrun file. If you feel that the time you took to complete your last stage was too long, then simply copy over your save with an earlier one. If you feel that you did a good job and want to advance, be sure to make a copy of your file first, just in case. When using this method, please keep in mind that you are limited to 20 save files. However, should you feel that 20 is not enough, you can also upload your saves to the Cloud to give yourself more space to work with.

In the event you die in a stage (because dying and needing to respawn will cost you precious time) or just feel that your attempt at that stage is not going very well, "Pause" the game and select "Back to Title Screen". The time you spent in the stage will not be added to your playtime, however the time you spent in the Tower will. If you went straight to the Acolyte NPC to start the next stage, this will likely amount to around 20 seconds or so but if you do this trick multiple times, it can quickly become several minutes. That is why this trick goes hand in hand with making extra copies of your save file. If you do use the "Back to Title Screen" trick, be sure to then overwrite your save with an earlier one to save those seconds.

The 1.5 hour time constraint is really not that bad. I made sure that I had a lot of practice before I attempted this, as well as a plan. This was my basic setup but if you need any extra info on the NPCs/curios/cloaks/upgrades I mention here, then please see Spec'd Out:

1. Complete the Plains while trying to get as many Red Skulls as possible, without going too far out of the way.

2. Buy the Will Skull curio immediately (3 Red Skulls). Also, put money toward "waking up" the NPCs, Manny and Legion, in the tower.

3. Complete the Flying Machine, with the same plan for Red Skulls as with the Plains.

4. Buy the Judgement Rush curio (10 Red Skulls). It can help you skip certain rooms in stages entirely or even just small parts of rooms, significantly speeding up your progress.

5. When you have enough gold for it, upgrade your Will Skull with Legion. It is not really necessary to upgrade the Judgement Rush but it will give you invulnerability when activating it, as well as activating it faster. It's your call.

* 6. Purchase the Cloak of Clemency from Manny. You may not have enough gold for this as well yet but grab it as soon as you do. If you have enough Will, (it will consume 4 Will when activated), it will basically give you a quick retry if you accidentally die to a pit/lava/spike trap.

* 7. Focus on completing the stages that give you Darkness Wisps first, (The Lich Yard, Clockwork Tower, Explodatorium), as you will be able to use your Will Skull and Judgement Rush more often with a larger supply of Darkness. Because all of the Wisps are either on the main path or only 1 room off to the side, I would recommend going out of your way for them when completing the stages. In the event you can't be bothered to do that, you can always just buy any you missed from the NPC, Missy, in the Tower.

8. With the preliminary things out of the way, you are free to do the rest of the stages in any order you see fit. If you want a specific curio, then focus on that.

9. Prioritise speed above all else. Unless you feel it necessary to buy any further curios/upgrades, you shouldn't need any more Red Skulls or gold. Just make a Bee line for the finish.

*Be aware that tips 6 & 7 only apply if you are not combining Hurry Up! with Naked Specter. As an alternative, you could purchase the Raiment of Risk instead, which will strengthen your standing attacks and regenerate your darkness over time, at the cost of destroying a checkpoint.