In general: Runis now more defined, some initial thoughts have evolved, and it turns out there's an awful lot you can do on three hearts and one stamina wheel if you're clever and quick on your feet.
Lot of this is stream-of consciousness so please excuse the wandering topics.
Food has been less useful than anticipated so far, with one major exception - Hearty foods. And for that, I've turned largely to Hearty Durians. A full set of 5 in a dish jumps my health bar to a respectable 23 hearts, but most importanly they can be farmed en masse in the Faron region. Sadly it's presently a ***** to get around there. One of my next items up is to drop by Lanaryu long enough to work through the Vah Ruta quest up to the point I get the Zora Armor. Hopping up waterfalls should make Durian gathering much simpler.
I've come to define the "no Divine Beasts" rule as "not allowed to engage in combat with the Divine Beasts" - the original intent was to have the full boss rush gauntlet for Calamity Ganon - and I honestly haven't seen the need to even begin the other three Divine Beast quests. The appropriate clothing sets for fire, heat, and cold are readily available in Goron City, Rito VIllage, and Kara Kara Bazaar, respectively. Can't enter Gerudo Town at all because I can't wear the pants.
Speaking of, I'm pretty sure the quest to acquire the Gerudo clothes forces you to wear them after acquisition, including the pants. I'm debating how to interpret that under the "no pants" rule - whether acquiring the outfit but immediately removing the pants is alright, or a stricter interpretation - which would necessitate foregoing that quest line, as it'll force me to break, if not the spirit, then the letter of a rule. I'll likely go for the latter simply because acquiring the Gerudo set in this run is a purely convenience move - only really need it for getting around the desert, and I can offset the heat with food or elixirs, so it might not be a point of contention.
Stricter interpretations seem to be the order of business for my "no upgrades" rule as well. In theory, the intent was no upgrades from Goddess Statues and Spirit Orbs - no health, no stamina. In practice, I've foregone every available upgrade save one - the Sheikah Sensor++, which I acquired before I really pondered the idea - and I would honestly like to continue to do so.
The Phantom EX armor will probably be necessary to stand a chance in the boss rush with limited health and armor upgrades. For runs like this I usually have mixed feelings about DLC additions - it feels to me like making something else available that makes things easier kind of defeats the purpose of a challenge run - but I figure that if the same update that brought Master Mode also brought the DLC it can reasonably be considered part of the baseline options, since you can't get one without the other. The amiibo items are another matter, and I've sworn off them - need to earn my supplies.
I've also confirmed that I've been locked out of the Master Sword and related Trials entirely. Tried to cheese it with some Durian Stew but it turns out the sword only cares about red hearts, not gold ones. With upgrades out as per the rules, no sword for me.
One other thing I've noticed is how much better I've gotten at stealth and combat. Kind of a necessity when everything one-shots you, and necessity has driven innovation. Some things I've learned:
- For everything that's not Chus, always engage in one-on-one combat. Always. Always. The advantages cannot be overstated. More importantly, being killed by the flanker you weren't focusing on sucks.
- When that's not possible, engage from a distance. Everyone's less tough with an arrow in the nose.
- When that's not possible, pack electric weapons. Big ones - thunderspears and great thunderblades, to disarm multiple opponents - and then swap to something heavy and bat them away. Let them keep going for their equipment and giving you free shots.
- And when at all possible, fight ****ing dirty. Always drop enemies on floating platforms and pick up the drops from the ground/water, unless you can one-shot them off the platform. Roll boulders, explode barrels - soften the crowd up however you can. Aim from places they can't easily reach. Ganon's dudes tend to win in a fair fight. Don't give them one.
If Master Mode is the test for who slept through Combat 101, Nicepants edition is writing my thesis.
Another interesting bit. If you can sneak up on a lone Bokoblin, Moblin, or Lizalfos and sneakstrike it, the very first thing the AI will do after it stands back up is have it turn around to find its attacker, and it can't notice you or engage until it does.
Actually took some time and verified this. After approaching a Moblin with two pieces of Sheikah gear and patience, I gave him a sneakstrike, immediately went into the menu and threw on two pieces of Soldier's gear, ran around him, and stood right on his nose, making no effort to be stealthy in the least. I watched him stand up and immediately swing 180 degrees, and rewarded his curiosity with another sneakstrike.
The one caveat is that you want to do it on relatively flat ground so you can predict how it'll get back up. I've used this to best effect in the Coliseum Ruins, which has been mostly useful at this point for cash grinding - lots of silver enemies dropping gemstones for minimal effort. Really, though, the most interesting thing about this quirk is the glimpse into the enemies' AI.
