#quick 2

Alternative reaction to the early open by the devout. Saves a damage tank, making it better for runs.

After the discussion that prompted the split of the Any% NMG ComSoB sheet, I started talking to CC about the last devout's FSM and theoretically optimal variations of the quick kill. In CC's words, the FSM briefly is:

1. Devout wakes up
2. Devout waits for up to 1s randomly for the knight to enter melee range before deciding to go forward; otherwise it'll start walking forward until it reaches melee range
3. If it walked forward it'll wait up to 0.5s to attack or walk backwards; if it didn't its up to 1.5s (attack/walk backwards is 50/50)
   So a VERY important thing is that you NEVER cross the melee part of the devout on your own, ALWAYS wait for it to walk forward

So from this we want a setup that:

1. Wakes the devout up as soon as possible
2. Encourages the devout to walk into you as soon as possible
3. Keeps you actionable when the devout does walk into you so you can chase it if needed to stay in its melee range and prevent a reroll

CC's suggestion is Fireball -> Dash -> Fireball -> Dash -> Fireball, with a bit of walking forward before the last fireball to get a bit closer to the devout's melee range (first clip). You'll then want to walk toward the devout if its either currently moving at you or has moved far enough to get you in its melee range, indicated by it stopping in front of you after walking at you (second clip). If it walks up to you then backs up, as mentioned above, do NOT walk toward it until it starts moving toward you again.

The last thing is that the devout can attack too early for you to fit four nail slashes while it's open. If this does happen, you'll wanna do a slight variation that saves the last slash for a second open, which you can force with a slash (third clip). Conveniently the extra damage from this cancels the freeze frames, making the strat lose about 0.6s-0.7s to an optimal quick kill. If you're low though you can just back up before slashing.