Why do a punch-only run? Why, just because you can! Guns are so uncivilized.

In this guide, I'll walk you through a punch-only run chapter by chapter, with remarks on general techniques to get by and tips for specific difficult rooms.

The rules for a punch-only run are:
- Tsunami is only allowed to damage enemies with weaponless attacks: punches and kicks.
- Weapons, thrown, shot or melee are disallowed from harming enemies. They may still be picked up/dropped/used as long as no enemy takes damage.
- Friendly fire/environmental hazards can be taken advantage of.
- The Prologue does not count, duh.

For a punch-only run, you'll first need basic familiarity with the controls: how to move, dash, shoot and throw weapons quickly.
A punch-only run will be very hard if you never finished the game at least once. Actually, it'll be very hard even if you finished the game several times, it *is* a challenge run after all. ^-^


I personally find the default controls awkward, so I rebind throw to F and middle-click, and dash to right-click. You'll need the ability to dash very reactively, so make sure your controls are comfortable and accessible.
You can also unbind the pick/drop key at first to avoid picking up a weapon unintentionally.

This chapter is easy, so it's time to check you can punch properly! Basic attacks are dealt in cycles of 5, the fifth is a kick that deals more damage and has more range but has a longer recovery time. The recovery time for punches and kicks can be avoided by dashing right afterward.

Learn to punch enemies in one cycle and dash to the other to deal with them quickly. Maximising your damage output without being vulnerable is a skill you'll need afterwards.

You can also learn to notice when enemies hear gunfire: they turn towards the source of the noise and are more reactive if you appear from a direction they expect. You'll need to learn appearing from directions they don't expect in later stages of the game.

In the penultimate room, with all the bots you're supposed to gun down, dash from one corner of the room to the other when you need to breathe, otherwise punch them as they come.

Pipe hooligans are dangerous because they can bonk you repeatedly. Try to engage them one by one, and don't let yourself be stunlocked. Eliminating one enemy is more important than damaging several, your first priority is giving yourself some breathing space and avoiding being stunlocked.

The chaapter is otherwise pretty similar to regular.

You'll need to master the basic punch to get past the first levels of this chapter.

Shotgun punks are a menace: they WILL one-shot you if you miss a punch. If you're not confident in your ability to one-cycle them, dash away so they miss you and reengage from behind. Enemies react to gunshots, but not to the sound of punches. If they see you briefly, they will shoot at the place they saw you.
If you're really not confident in your ability to fight armed opponents head on, you can dash in and away until they exhaust all their ammo.

Once big bots come in, the true challenge begins. You will need patience and repetition to get past them. With a bit of practice, you can get 3 punches in each time they try to strike before having to dash away, and you'll need to repeat that ~20 times for each of them. If you can do it safely, try to punch two at once to increase your damage output.

Finally, at 3-5, you will face the ultimate challenge. Good luck, you'll need it, though you'll need a lot more patience than luck.
By now, you should have mastered the art of punching big bots for minutes at a time without fail; if not, you'll have to learn. The shotgun punks are dangerous; the others can be evaded until they run out of ammo or taken straight on.
Let the punks throw grenades; they'll help you more than not; if it helps, drop grenades near the conveyor belts they come from. It might help to throw the shotguns outside the room (beyond the conveyor belts); since rooms don't get updated if you're not there, the shotguns won't be brought back if you aim well.
The punks coming from the elevator at the end are especially dangerous; jump them as soon as the door opens, and you can take down the shotgun punk before they fire; then dash inside the elevator so they miss: they turn very slowly. Another option is to take down two in one punch-cycle before they fire.
Punch then dash behind them until they die, or punch them then dash away to evade until they run out of bullets, before you collect your hard-earned victory.

You might want to rebind your pick-drop key to unload all weapons in the room before the punks start coming in.

Managing your personal space is the name of the game here, though the chapter is little different with or without weapons.

For the last segment, let the big bots come in the tram and the police car gatling will gun them down.

Fencers can't be engaged head on, you need to bait a lunge out of them before you can punch them.

The room in 5-4 with the disc-throwers requires a bit of patience.
For each of the four disc-throwers, there are two sweet spots: the exact pixel where if you stand, the disc will bounce back to the sender, and if you're in the corner, the exact direction where if you punch a disc from there, it'll bounce back to the sender.
In the video, I use the body-bounce back, but I recommend punching the discs instead if you try it.

The last gauntlet is hard; you need to take down fencers before they finish materializing to have enough room to outmanoeuver the others.

Just skip the glass football, it's very hard without a saber.
(Speedrun trick: if you dash thrice and run forward, you can leave the football arena before it closes, thus skipping it entirely.)

For the airship 6-2, you need to keep the positions of security agents in mind since they can shoot you and you can't shoot them. If you can take cover next to them, punch them while the gatling is on; if you can't, place yourself so the airship guns them down.

The next levels are extremely challenging! The SWAT teams are very hard to engage while they have a weapon; their near-instant reaction time is nigh impossible to overcome, and they need 3 punch-cycles to die.
The most reliable way to get rid of them is to make them exhaust their ammunition; they are poorly trained in hand-to-hand combat. Peek at them around corners and behind doors to bait volleys. Dash in and out. Appear behind them and move away before they turn around (they WILL see you if there's a line of sight between the two of you; my headcanon is they have cameras in their backs).
If you're safe, pick up a weapon and empty its cartridge against a wall; that'll be so many shots you won't have to bait out of the SWAT teams.
If they surround you, you'll most likely die. Ergo, don't get surrounded. They react to sound, but sometimes choose to ignore it. If you shoot, they'll know your position, but if one of them shoots, they'll move towards the shooter; if they see you long enough to decide to shoot but not long enough to turn around towards your position, and another agent shoots, they'll turn towards that new source of noise before shooting. Use those facts to herd them together so they're easier to manage and can't surround you, and to bait them into shooting each other.
If you can line them up in a small space, and peek, the backline can shoot into the frontline.

One less agent is one less opportunity to die, and one more weapon lying on the ground you can pick up and empty. Rebind your pick/drop key if needed.

PREPARE TO DIE A LOT. This is hard. Though I can now do it reliably, it took me several hours of practice.
Plan your routes to make it slightly easier, and take the elevators after 6-4 with empty guns otherwise the game will spawn a full spitfire for you, which you might have to unload.

Remember that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer; don't grow greedy or it shall be your downfall. Much like the rest of punch-only, patience is the key here.

6-3 is for practice against the SWAT. 6-4, take down as many security guards as you can before the SWAT come up. You may choose to avoid the second elevator to deal with less SWAT at a time, at the cost of less space to run around. 6-5, the ultimate SWAT challenge. Half the time, you'll unavoidably lose to bad RNG; don't let it get to you and try again. The middle-side doors are especially good for peeking and making them waste shots. Beware agents shooting you from offscreen; if you have lost track of an agent lurking around, be prepared to dash back whenever you turn a corner or open a door. If you could get 6-5, 6-6 will be easy; run around the gallery and enjoy the fireworks while they group up in the center.

Boy, oh boy.
This is what you were all waiting for, heh?

She has more range than you; you can still dash away to safety and she doesn't have more opportunities to kill you, but your damage output is drastically reduced. In practice, it's a bit like having to beat her 5 times in a row.
You can safely get 3 hits in during a spin charge, 1 hit for a gun, 1 hit for a javelin, and 1 hit at a time in default stance. You might want to be more aggressive, at your own risks.
To get a hit in default stance: run at her to bait a slash, move back, move in and punch. You can also bait a full slash cycle and move in while she recovers; it's safer but slower.
DO NOT try to hit her while she dashes around you. With a sword, it's a great way to get a lot of damage; without, it's a great way to misjudge distance and get killed.

In phase 3, I recommend not attacking when she charges her javelin attack because it interrupts the charge but not the attack so you might have to dodge two attacks at once.

Try and try again. Do it enough times and you'll eventually whittle her down until she dies.

Proof that it's possible:
Good luck and godspeed, fellow ninja killbot!

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