I’ve gotten into speed running and have been practicing the skips but the one im most inconsistent on is the VS skip in green path. I played through the game solely on d pad but can only get the skip to work on sticks. Im willing to try KBM for easy redirection taps but im not sure if it’s worth learning the game on it. Just looking for tips or thoughts (switch to sticks or KBM or stay on dpad).

I don't find that stick is easier than dpad for the trick, but probably depends on the person. I personally wouldn't switch for just that. (If you do decide to switch to kbm, you'll probably want the SOCD Cleaner from resources to help clean up directional inputs.)

For the fireball skip, make sure you're using quick cast for the fireballs and practice jumping and turning at the peak of your jump and firing. You can practice this anywhere to get a feel for the rhythm, like by the spring in Crossroads where you can refill soul easily. Using the debug mod on PC also allows save states, which would help a lot for practice.

The main way I learned it was by going for it in every run (after some initial practice) and having a sensible backup on the fly below. Just got more consistent at it after a while.

Thanks for the advice. For some reason on dpad I keep air strafing slightly right. Maybe imputing the VS faster could fix it as I love using dpad.

Yeah, you want to quick cast the fireball as soon after turning as possible. Because the trick mainly works when you're close to the top of your jump arc, so turn + fireball need to be pretty quick after.

A lot of controller players switch to a claw grip for fb skips, where you hold in the direction you want to move with the analog stick, then input the opposite direction (the direction you want to fb) with dpad, fb, and release the dpad all while holding the stick in the direction you're moving. This makes the dpad input override the analog stick only while you are pressing that direction on the dpad, so you remove the time of switching from left to right entirely. In recap, in the case of the latest patch "first" (in any%) fb skip in greenpath:

Hold left on analog stick, jump, continue holding left the entire trick Press right on the dpad and hold Cast your fb(s) while facing right Release the dpad as soon as you make your input for the last fb You should still be holding left on stick, which means you will now turn left again and complete the jump.

I also want to signal boost the above comments - MAKE SURE YOU USE QUICK CAST - check your bindings, there is a quick cast button, you should be using that. Quick cast casts as soon as you press the button, focus/cast only casts when you RELEASE the button.

Lastly, my recommendation is to play on keyboard and install SOCD cleaner for clean movement :)

Fireb0rn's any% tutorial teaches this greenpath fb skip by the way