So I want to run part 2 and I unsurprisingly want to make it as optimal as possible. So I have a few questions.

1. it says that it is recommended to have a playthrough of part 1 for verification and the segment has total IGT. Does it matter how long the part 1 run is, it isnt part of part 2 but part 1 is part of IGT so would only Real Time matter in this case.

2. If part 1 time doesnt matter, what restrictions do I have in part 1, I could do every mission up to Lares to get as many free quest points as possible and grab every possible P crystal, money, and parts that I might need for the run all pre-set. Would that be allowed.

3. Rather than just setting up the same part 2 every run from part 1 would it be fine to have a back up of that save file, from right after beating Lares, so a runner wouldnt have to play a 2-3 hour segment that ultimately seems like it should not matter in context of the category.

I think that is the important parts of my questions.

The recommendations to have a playthrough of your part 1 is just to ensure you don't "cheat" all the available quest points / upgrades / P crystals / etc... instead of actually setting up your file. It would be mainly requested in case of doubt.

IGT is only for a matter of recording, and maybe tiebreaking. The main timing method is still RTA. As a matter of fact, imo, I'd be inclined to calculate the Part 2 IGT by substracting your end of Part 1 IGT from your total IGT, but that would need discussion among moderators.

You are obviously allowed to copy your Part 1 savefile and reuse the same one for all your Part 2 attempts. There is no point in forcing runners to rerun the entire game everytime they want to just attempt a Part 2 run (might as well just run Full Game at that point...).

To combine the last question with the first one : this allows you to have ONE Part 1 playthrough for all your Part 2 runs verifications.

Cool. I think the last line on the part 2 catagory rules threw me off since it says "runs must start from a new save file", which is why I had to ask. Because like you said, if you had to rerun part 1 every time why not just do full game runs at that point.

Ah, must have indeed been a mistake that was never corrected.

The correct wording should be "a fresh post Part One save", as in it has not been touched yet to start Part Two.