Overview - Route Guide - TotK 1.0 any%

Things to know about this route guide:

This guide is a work in progress! Please do not send beginners here yet.
This guide uses several glitches exclusive to 1.0.
This guide aims to be up to date with latest strats while also offering beginner options where possible. In general this guide follows WR, however beginner strats as well as advanced optimizations are included as options. Obsolete routes+strats are only included when they're easier for beginners, and will be marked as obsolete.
Amiibo and No Amiibo routes are both included, as they are mostly similar since QDS was discovered.
Exact counts for duplicated items (eg bombs, gems, wings) will not be tracked, as they vary depending on your exact route and how many times you're willing to retry tricks before abandoning your runs. You should keep track of what you'll need!
You should join the TotK Speedrunning Discord so you can follow links from this guide. Check out the surrounding discussion in these links too!
This guide will not explain every nuance of every trick, you will need to follow external resources. Quality resources will be linked when they're available, and you should also closely inspect top runs, especially where input display is available. Check out the Glossary and Credits sections for leads on doing your own homework.
This guide is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Things to know about the game and console:

Load times are fastest when running from internal flash storage ("sysnand"). Running from physical gamecard is slowest, and running from sd card or "emunand" (which is also sd card) is in the middle.
Installing 1.0 to internal storage requires using a tool like DBI on a homebrewed device ("custom firmware" or CFW). If you're shooting for a top time, this is worth the effort! This can also be used to configure game updates.
Reverting to 1.0 on a non homebrewed device ("official firmware" or OFW) requires a factory reset.
Many menus do not respond properly to input on their first frame, sometimes appearing as snapback or the menu ignoring the input.
Russian system language is fastest, then French=Spanish, and English is slower. The voice acting language setting in the game's options does not matter for any%. However this difference is only a couple seconds total.
Don't fuse bombs to zuggled shields.
Don't enter the Demon Dragon fight while overloaded.

The intro may optionally be skipped altogether, which is slower than "intro clip" but removes a lot of downtime in your attempts. Beginners should consider using this, see the "intro skip" ruleset for timing+setup details.

This is the most complicated section for routing and fairly difficult, with many options available as your skills improve.
Most runners have 2 or 3 splits for this section. They are merged here to simplify discussing the routing options.
"Early Wings" is mandatory in this guide, as it completely changes the path to Ascend and every more advanced route builds upon this. Cog Skip is ideal but not required for beginners.
"Early Ascend" builds on Early Wings, but both the "mozzdor" and "wing flip" variants are difficult. Early Ascend is not recommended for beginners.
No Amiibo + no arrow flight routes can opt to skip killing ToT construct?
Routes using QDS arrow flight can opt to set it up inside Ascend for a modest timesave and faster movement to Fuse later.

Is speed food ever worth it anymore?
Any other amiibo differences?
Amiibo routes will scan for a gemstone here and (preferably) perform the "Battery Trick Shot".
No Amiibo routes will obtain the battery and ruby from Pondside Cave.
ZOAS and Shock Arrow Smuggle are obsolete options for arrow flight, not covered in this guide.
Routes using QDS arrow flight may defer setting it up until inside Fuse.
Routes using arrow flight may fly over a cutscene trigger inside Fuse, known as "Construct Skip".

There are 3 ways to reach UH, from fastest+hardest to slowest+easiest: arrow flight, wings, running
There are 3 ways to complete UH: arrow flight, wing shield, bomb shield

Beginners may optionally take a detour for fairies and steering sticks after GSI. This costs a lot of time, but makes the endgame fights and clips easier.
Arrow flight or a wing (slower) may be used to get to the clip spot.
Having some form of arrow smuggle (even if you aren't ready to fly) makes the upcoming clips much easier. Arrows to activate bullet time are conveniently available on route, and even a spare bow. Learning QDS is recommended even for beginners here, just to enable this strat.

There are 2+3+4 cycle strats for this fight. Obviously faster is harder, but you'll probably want to learn them all. It hurts to completely waste an insane pace just because you messed up and don't remember the slower strats.
Successful 2-cycle fights can go for a followup "Fast Head" strat after clearing the 4 eyes.
Being grounded for the final hit on the head wastes time, try not to do that.