to those who are quite slow and new to the game, i found a nice consistant strat for birkin fight

(combine the magnum part with the magnum to make the upgraded version)

when it says "5 minutes until detonation" go to the lift as normal, then, leon will take a few steps back as soon as birkin comes down from the ceiling, DON'T MOVE AT ALL, and just shoot your magnum (no quick fire) but as fast as you can mash action button and hold aim,

on the third shot, William will try to strike at you, but the recoil of the upgraded magnum will push you away from his reach just about, and after that shot, he will transform

Hey LoanShark,

I myself consistently created the Custom Magnum (I deemed it "The Boss Killer" lol) up until I started speedrunning Leon A and found 2-3 videos showing awesome (and different) routes/methods for the run...none of which involve creating the Custom Magnum. :(

As awesome as it is, it unfortunately wastes around 9-10 seconds to create it, possibly more (W. Box Key pickup, W. Box Key utilization, Magnum Parts pickup, Magnum Parts utilization). Couple that with the fact it fires MUCH slower and has horrendous kickback, which wastes even MORE seconds.

Also, at least in the US version, it takes the same number of shots (3) to make G3 transform to G4 whether you use the regular Magnum or the Custom one. To avoid being hit by G3, instead of standing still simply run behind him to his right (sort of orienting Leon between the P and L in the word "PLATFORM" written on the floor), aim down, and shoot him 3 times. Even without quickshotting, he won't turn around fast enough to strike you.

From that point, the G4 battle has it's own strats and ways it can play out. Hope this helps :)

thanks ConkyJoe89 and Viixiie_ i will learn from your information and get into speedrunning leon a!

Hey no problem buddy! We're all here to help each other :)

I'm VERY new to not only speedrunning this game, but speedrunning in general, so you can see I've been asking alotta Q's on the forum myself in the past few days. Haha

(P.S. You can see my love for the Custom Magnum as I made it my Icon beside my name! Lol)

ConkyJoe89 thanks i am very new to live split and autosplitter as well! i think i asked too much questions now! hopefully i will produce some really good Leon As soon. am interested in seeing yours too, since you are new to speedrunning

I'm really eager to see your runs as well! And we're both running Leon A, so that's awesome. If you ever wanna ask me anything or compare notes/strategies just ask! :)

I'm new to speedrunning, but I've been playing RE2 on PS since it released in '98, and although I've yet to record a run I've written a guide on the (seemingly) optimal run for both US and JAP PS versions, comparing 4 runs (Carc's WR, a Carc 1:11:xx video on Youtube, AndehX's 5th place run on US, and larathen's 9th place run on US) to write a guide that can be used for both US and JAP version and result in a sub 1:14:00 run at the least.

https://www.speedrun.com/re2/guide/ufivh I made this guide a few months ago about Jikkachan's G4 strat. It's more in-depth and can also be used for Claire, but she requires precise aiming to actually use it due to the nature of Grenade Launcher rounds.

I see why you have those views MissRC, like I said until I began speedrunning and taking time so seriously, getting the Custom Magnum was apart of my strategy every single game. But the C. Magnum's increased damage and zombie piercing power don't provide enough advantage (or I guess I should say the kind of advantages speedruners are looking to utilize) to warrant making time to pick it up. I'll explain with a pros and cons list.

1. Majorly increased power. We're talking second only to the R. Launcher. Mmmm greatness ;)
2. Ability to decapitate or pierce multiple zombies.
3. Pushback from the recoil could actually be a good thing in certain cases I suppose.

1. That hideous recovery time. If you're just firing it once and at one enemy I guess that's fine bc that enemy has a high probability of being just auto-dead lol. But added up those seconds start to matter, and if there are multiple enemies around (looking at you Super Lickers!) the recovery time can leave you defenseless in a bad spot.
2. The point in the game at which it even becomes available. Surely, we can both agree the C. Mag's best use is eating up bosses. But by the time you get it, only one boss remains (G4, and he's also an example of how Con #1 comes into play...dont wanna be frozen around him and that mouth). Pro #2 will really only come into play like once I know of for sure, and it's a situation where to conserve ammo and time you wanna dodge and juke the zombies anyways. (I should probably mention now I'm speaing primarily for Leon A and not B).
3. It's pushback will affect not just time, but also positioning needed for the G4 Loop to work I think.
4. You don't even receive a max bullet capacity increase despite all you have to do to acquire it. The Custom Shotty gets +2 (I think), and you only have to turn a corner for that beast of a time waster lol.

I'm sure you can see now, the Cons not only outnumber the Pros, but outweigh them in severity as well. For each Con there are many examples of how it would degrade a run, for the Pros, well...the perk of being mad strong is really all it appears to have going for it. And that just isn't enough to salvage its viabilty unfortunately :/

You only end up saving one bullet for the Final Fight sadly. The Birkin loop works, but you have to constantly reposition after every shot which is a complete waste of time BrokeBack