21 Advanced Techniques

Advanced Movement

Advanced movement is about turning basic run and crouch into tools that control distance, time, and line of sight. At higher floors, every small movement error gets punished, so you want your default habits to be efficient.

You should think in three layers: how you move in safe space, how you move when you are near Twisteds, and how you move while being chased. In safe space, cut every corner tightly. Avoid running long straight lines when you do not need to. Every second saved on travel is a second added to extraction or scouting.

Near Twisteds, movement is about information. Peek around corners with small sidesteps instead of exposing your whole body. When you cross unknown hallways, hug one wall and keep an escape route in mind. Avoid committing to long open corridors if you do not know where the nearest cover is.

During a chase, advanced movement turns a losing race into a loop that slowly drains the Twisted’s usefulness. Use wide turns when you need to keep speed, and sharp, wall hugging turns when you want to try and break line of sight. Practice using doorways as pivot points. Enter a room on one side of the doorway, then exit on the opposite side so the Twisted has to curve around the door frame and loses distance.

You also want to learn the “rhythm” of your character speed. Run in bursts instead of holding sprint forever. Start your sprint just before a turn, a door, or a long straight, not while idling in place. The more deliberate your sprint presses are, the more often you will have stamina at the moments that matter.

Use height changes and small geometry whenever the map allows it. Even a tiny step, corner, or piece of furniture can be used to briefly block line of sight or force the Twisted into a slightly longer path. This connects directly into pathing and aggro tricks later in this chapter.

Stamina Optimization

Stamina optimization is the art of spending stamina only when its value is highest. On lower floors you can sprint often and get away with it. On high floors, careless sprinting almost always gets punished in the next unexpected chase.

First, separate “travel sprinting” from “survival sprinting.” Travel sprinting is when nothing is chasing you. Limit this. Walk whenever you are not on a timer, and sprint only to cross open danger zones, rotate between distant machines, or help a teammate quickly. Survival sprinting is when you are escaping, breaking line of sight, or repositioning during a black out. This is where your stamina truly matters.

Think of your stamina bar as a resource pool. A useful mental rule is to keep at least one third of your stamina in reserve whenever you are near active Twisteds. If you dip below that, slow to a walk and recover in a safe hallway or room before you go deeper into danger.

Try to align stamina recovery with low intensity tasks. While doing a machine skill check, looting a drawer, or waiting for a Twisted to pass, avoid holding sprint just before or after. Let those moments refill your bar. Over a long run, these micro recoveries add up.

During chases, avoid panic sprinting. Many players hold sprint from the first moment of detection until they are exhausted, then die when the Twisted catches up. Instead, sprint in short bursts when you need to cross unsafe angles, open areas, or when the Twisted is about to cut you off. When you are in a tight corridor with a clear distance lead, you can often release sprint for a second or two, let stamina tick up, then burst again when you make the next corner.

If your toon or trinkets alter stamina cost, treat that effect as a safety buffer, not as permission to sprint mindlessly. Use your improved stamina to take slightly riskier routes, support teammates more often, or extend longer kites, not to run in circles for no reason.

Aggro Manipulation

Aggro manipulation is controlling which player a Twisted focuses on, when it swaps, and how long it stays interested. At a basic level, aggro is gained by being seen or heard, then maintained as long as the Twisted keeps line of sight or track of your last known position.

You can shape these interactions. If you want to pull aggro on purpose, expose yourself clearly in the Twisted’s field of view at a medium distance, then commit to a clean, predictable path that pulls it away from machines or teammates. Do not half commit. Walking back and forth in front of a Twisted can cause erratic pathing that hurts both you and your team.

If you want to shed aggro, your goal is to break line of sight in a way that makes your location ambiguous. Simple corner breaks where you turn and immediately keep running in the same general direction often just move the chase forward. Smarter breaks involve changing direction after a corner, crossing through rooms with multiple exits, or passing behind large obstacles that block vision.

You can also “hand off” aggro intentionally. A common trick is for one teammate to lead the Twisted toward a safe loop, then another teammate briefly crosses the Twisted’s vision closer than the original target. If the AI prefers the closer player, aggro swaps, and the first player is free. This is risky, so teams should only do it in areas with clear space and communication.

Noise and visibility both matter. Slamming doors or sprinting too close to patrolling Twisteds might pull unnecessary aggro, especially at higher floors when hearing ranges and reaction speeds can feel harsher. If you are not the designated distractor, move quietly near active paths. Let the teammate who is ready to kite be the one who gets noticed.

Twisted Pathing

Twisted pathing is how Twisteds choose their route to reach you. Learning the “shape” of their decisions lets you position yourself so they always take the longest, most awkward path.

Most Twisteds prefer the shortest walkable route based on the geometry they know. When there are multiple hallways or doorways between you and them, very small changes in your position can change which route they choose. If you stand slightly closer to the left door instead of the right, the Twisted may commit to a longer left corridor, even if you intend to escape through the right one.

Use corners as pathing anchors. Before you pull a Twisted, mentally map at least one “long” route and one “short” route they can take to reach your area. Then stand in a position that encourages the long route. Once the Twisted commits and moves deep into that path, you can double back through the shorter alternate path to escape or to rotate to another machine.

Rooms with multiple entrances are very powerful. If a room has two open doors, twist your position so that when the Twisted enters through door A, you exit through door B and already have a corner ready. Over time, this creates a loop that keeps the Twisted cycling around the room while you stay one step ahead.

Some Twisteds handle obstacles poorly. Even small objects can cause them to “wiggle” around them. When you learn which pieces of furniture or map clutter cause the most delay, kite around those consistently. The time the Twisted spends pathing around an object translates directly into seconds gained for machines.

Line of sight interacts with pathing too. When you vanish behind several walls, many Twisteds path toward your last known position, then search from there. If you exit the area with a path that runs wide around that position, you can often be far away before the Twisted finishes checking the wrong side of the floor.

Machine Optimization

Machine optimization focuses on how you interact with machines to maximize extraction value and minimize wasted time. On high floors, simply “doing machines when you see them” is not enough. Every decision about which machine, when, and for how long matters.

First, think of each machine as a time bank. When you start a machine, you invest time and risk. If you are likely to be interrupted soon, it can still be worth touching the machine just enough to progress it slightly, so that later someone else can finish it quickly. This is especially important when you pass near a machine on your way to another priority.

Skill checks are the main place where players lose hidden time. Anticipate their rhythm. Learn your toon’s timing and latency so you do not overreact. A failed check does not only lose progress, it also creates noise that might bring Twisteds. On high floors, this can chain into a wipe. It is often better to briefly release the machine when you are distracted or when a Twisted is crossing nearby, then resume once conditions stabilize.

When multiple machines are available, prioritize those that are safer to complete fully rather than those that are closer but more exposed. Finishing one secure machine is better than spreading partial progress across three dangerous ones and never completing them.

Team roles also influence machine optimization. If your team has a strong dedicated distractor, extractors can greed a bit more time on machines before rotating. If your team composition is weaker at kiting, be more conservative with machine commitment and keep your exit paths clear.

You should also watch how machines cluster on a floor. If several are near each other, it can be efficient to rotate between them during partial chases, adding small bits of progress each time you pass by, instead of fully finishing one and ignoring the rest. This pattern is especially strong when Twisteds are drawn away by other players.

Efficient Routing

Efficient routing is about planning your floor path to minimize backtracking, avoid dead zones, and time your presence in risky areas. It is the strategic layer above simple movement.

Start each floor by quickly identifying key anchors: the elevator, clusters of machines, typical Twisted patrol zones, and known safe loops. From there, imagine your route as a loose circuit that touches each important area once or twice instead of bouncing randomly between them.

Try to clear one “side” of the map at a time. If you begin on the left wing, finish most machines and item checks there before moving to the right. Constantly crossing the map is one of the largest time sinks and also exposes you repeatedly to the same danger corridors.

Route planning also includes item collection. Integrate item spawns into your path instead of making special trips only to loot. If a machine is near several high value item spots, route such that you pass those spots on your way in and out of the machine area.

In multiplayer, efficient routing must acknowledge the team’s positions. You do not want three players all rotating into the same tight corridor while a Twisted is near. Use mental or verbal agreements. One player takes the north side machines, another covers south, a third stays more central to respond to emergencies.

Adapting routes on the fly is crucial. If a Twisted blocks your planned corridor, do not force your way through just to “stick to the plan.” Quickly branch into a secondary route that still moves you toward unworked machines or safe item areas. The best players can reshape their route in seconds when conditions shift.

Risk Management

Risk management is deciding when it is correct to accept danger and when it is better to slow down. High floors punish greed, but also punish overcaution that drags runs long enough for mistakes to accumulate. The goal is to choose your risks intentionally.

Begin by constantly tracking three personal resources: hearts, stamina, and items. If you are low on hearts or critical items, your acceptable risk level should drop. Take safer routes, commit less to exposed machines, and avoid solo distractions. If you are healthy, fully stocked, and your team is stable, you can afford more aggressive plays.

Risk is also time dependent. Early on a floor, it is rarely worth throwing yourself into a terrible situation to save a few seconds. Late in a floor, especially when only one machine remains and Twisteds are already highly active, accepting a higher risk to finish quickly can actually lower overall danger by shortening the exposure window.

You should think about “team risk” not just “personal risk.” Sometimes sacrificing some personal safety to pull a Twisted away from three teammates on clustered machines is the correct play. Other times, staying safe yourself as the last healthy player is more important than trying a risky save that could wipe everyone.

When evaluating a decision, ask yourself two quick questions. First, what do I gain if this works. Second, what happens if it fails. If the failure outcome is a likely team wipe or run end, you should only take it if the success outcome is extremely strong. If the failure cost is low, you can take lighter gambles more often.

Recovering Failed Runs

Even very strong teams suffer mistakes and near wipes. Advanced play includes the ability to stabilize a run that looks doomed. Recovery is about pausing the spiral of panic and reestablishing control.

When things go wrong, your first priority is to stop adding more chaos. If multiple players are downed or chased, any free player should focus on creating breathing room, not instantly going for risky revives. Pull Twisteds away, reset aggro, and regain information about where the dangers are.

Communication becomes critical. State your own condition clearly and briefly. Let your team know if you are being chased, if you are safe, or if you are able to revive. Avoid everyone shouting conflicting plans. Usually, one calm voice giving simple directions is enough to pull the team back together.

Once you have a tiny window of safety, reassess. Count how many hearts and items remain on the team. Check how many machines are left and which ones are already partially progressed. Then pick a conservative plan that finishes the floor without relying on perfect execution. That might mean leaving some items unlooted or abandoning a very risky machine path.

If the team has suffered heavy losses, appoint one player as the “anchor.” This player should take the lowest risk routes, preserve items, and avoid unnecessary danger. The others can try more aggressive plays or rescues. If those attempts fail, the anchor is the one who will still be alive to finish or reach the elevator.

Mental recovery matters too. After a big mistake, players tend to overcorrect and play too scared, or they tilt and play recklessly. Try to treat each floor as a fresh scenario. Learn from what went wrong, but do not relive it every decision.

High-Floor Team Coordination

High floor team coordination turns all previous techniques into a consistent, shared system. Individual skill is not enough if teammates work at cross purposes. The goal is to synchronize movement, routing, and risk so the team behaves like a single organism.

At the start of high floor runs, assign soft roles, even if your toons are flexible. Decide who will primarily distract, who will focus machines, who will scout ahead, and who will float between roles. These roles are not strict, but they give everyone a default responsibility so gaps are less likely.

Coordinate routing explicitly. Instead of everyone picking random directions, agree on who will take each sector of the floor. This reduces overlap, lowers the chance of multiple players dragging Twisteds through the same choke points, and makes it easier to predict where teammates are when emergencies happen.

Communication should be constant but concise. Call out Twisted positions, aggro swaps, and machine states in simple terms. For example, “north hallway Twisted on me, stay south” or “last machine half done near elevator, clear.” Avoid long explanations in the middle of tense moments.

Team stamina and item management matter more on high floors than personal hoarding. If one player is burned out of resources, consider feeding them spare items or adjusting roles so they are less exposed. Likewise, if your main distractor is low on stamina support items, shift some extraction workload and let them play safer while others cover.

During chases, coordinate cross support. A teammate who is not chased can open doors ahead, clear paths, or start machines that the kiting player can briefly tap in passing. With practice, teams can create “relay” distractions where aggro is intentionally moved between players along a safe loop.

High floor teams also need a habit of pre planning critical floors. Before entering a known difficult floor range, quickly remind each other of who will prioritize what, and what the cutoff is for retreating to the elevator if things go badly. This shared expectation avoids hesitation in critical moments.