Determination

**Determination** is the sixth subchapter of Chapter 9: Farewell in Celeste. The subchapter continues on with the challenges presented in the previous subchapter and is the proper introduction to starblades. There is a secret room that can be found in this subchapter with the use of a demodash as a practice area for the technique. At the end of the subchapter, Badeline is present in a purple orb and will launch Madeline through crystals above, before the two argue for a bit as the next subchapter begins.

## **Gameplay**

Some of the hardest rooms present in Chapter 9 are going to be present in this subchapter. There is no overarching gimmick to the challenges, although wind will return and be a primary feature of many rooms. Wavedashes will be just as prominent in the difficulty of these rooms as it was in the previous subchapter.

### **Strategies**

Room 1

Start by doing a wavedash to the right off the bridge, then dash once more to reach the feather. Guide it to the right, going up, down, and up again until you pop out. From there you can fall down and start continually dashing straight right as you continue collecting double dash crystals. The last dash you do should be diagonally up-right, getting over the crystals to the right, and landing into the next room.

Room 2

Most of this room will be contained within swap blocks with spikes towards the middle. By dashing, these swap blocks will move outward and allow for platforming inside their paths. Dash to the right such that you land on a bridge around the crystals, then dash straight downward to refresh the timer of the swap blocks. Jump to the right and do a wall bounce off of the right side of the small platform above, while not bouncing too high as to not hit the spikes above. Fall to the right, then quickly dash straight down again to move the swap blocks away. Walk to the left and fall, then dash straight right into a dash crystal, then dash again up-right to land again. Jump to the left and dash straight up to do another wall bounce to the right (again making sure not to go too high) and prepare to dash up-right out of the exit of the crystals, then fall to land on another swap block found below. Wait a bit, then jump to the left and grab the right side of the large swap block to the left. Ride it up a bit, then let go as it reaches the end of its path to get momentum upward to allow yourself to move right and dash once more to reach the end of the room.

Room 3

This room has some skull binoculars available to preview the room, if needed. Jump and dash to bounce off the left spring and activate the triggered platform, then dash back to the starting position and wait a second. Then jump right and dash straight up into the dash crystal above, then dash up-right to reach the triggered platform again and bounce off of its left spring again. From this bounce, do a wall bounce off the small wall on the left and land on top of the triggered platform where the sludge-spawning tiles are. Jump off to the right and dash left into the right spring to bounce right, allowing you to dash straight up into a double dash crystal. From there, dash up-left, then fall a bit before dashing straight left into another double dash crystal. Dash straight up twice, then you should be lined up to move to the right and bounce to the left off the the left spring once more. This will bounce you into another spring on the left wall, then after that bounce you should dash up-right, then fall down to bounce off the right spring, allowing you to dash straight up and climb to the next room.

Room 4

This room has some skull binoculars available to preview the room, if needed. Wind will be blowing upward in this room, which alters the physics of the red bubbles present. You can take the first red bubble eight straight right or up-right. By going up-right, you'll need to do a tight straight right dash into the next red bubble. If you go straight right, you can do a simpler straight up dash into the next red bubble. Take this red bubble straight right for a bit, then dash down-right and hold back to fall into the next red bubble, which can be taken either up-right or straight right as well. By going straight right, you'll need to dash straight down just before crashing into the crystals and then hold right to reach the next red bubble. If you go up-right, you can instead time a straight right dash into another red bubble, which has to be aimed straight down. Before reaching the crystals below, dash straight up then fall to the right into the next red bubble. This red bubble can also be taken either straight right or up-right. By going straight right, you'll need to do a precisely timed down-right dash to make it through the gap in the crystals. By going up-right, you can then dash straight left into another red bubble, then take that one to the right and do a wavedash off of the disappearing platform, which then allows you to more easily time a straight right dash through the gap in the crystals to the right.

Room 5

In this room, you need to do a tight wavedash while not hold right too much such that you can reach the key token but not the crystals nearby. If this is successful, you will slowly fall and be able to dash straight right and grab the key-activated platform as it rises up, taking you do a double dash crystal. Fall from there and you can dash straight right and straight up, then climb to bounce off the spring on the other side to the end of the room.

Room 6

This room has some skull binoculars available to preview the room, if needed. Stand as far left as you can on the lower ledge and watch the starblades to the right. When the starblades are at the bottom, do a wavedash and dash straight up out of it to grab the launching block's right side, then you should be released and pass the starblades, allowing you to grab a moon block. In the next area there will be a few moon blocks with sludge-spawning tiles to navigate and reach a key token. Jump over the platform you first reached to the right and fall down to the double dash crystal, then dash straight left into the key token and then dash up-right and grab another moon block. Climb up, then jump to the left and wall jump to the right from there to the right side of the moon block from earlier. Jump from there to the moon block to the right, then climb up it and jump right to grab the other launching block and launch yourself to near the end of the room. Just jump and dash up to the other moon blocks and dash over the wall of crystals to the right.

Room 7

This room has some skull binoculars available to preview the room, if needed. This room will be a tall vertical area with starblades moving left and right across many parts of the room. Stand at the left area of the lower ledge and watch the starblades to the right. When the starblades reach the right, do a wavedash to the right and fall down to the right side of the starblades. You'll then fall for a bit, then you're met with a split path. The main path would be reached by dashing to the left in the open area between the crystals, then move right a bit. There will be four pairs of starblades below moving left and right. You can try to stay to the left side while the starblades are on the right but be prepared to adapt and hold downward to speed up your fall if the timing won't line up or move to the right if the timing isn't right to fall down to the left. From there, fall left into the red bubble at the bottom and take it straight right into the next room.

If you choose to go down the right path, you'll need to be extremely precise as you nudge to the right and left, and you'll naturally dodge the starblades on this path on the left side except for the last one, in which you must go right to avoid it while it's at the left or you could accelerate your fall by holding down to change the timing. This right path is not recommended as it is far harder than the main left path, however going this way is part of how to reach a secret demodash room. Just under the second set of starblades on this path, an area to the right behind the crystals can be spotted. To get in here, you must do a demodash (also known as a crouch dash) which is possible with carefully holding down while dashing but is also able to be set as an input. It is highly recommended to set a crouch dash button in the options menu if attempting this. Aim a crouch dash right about the center of the open area and you'll seemingly pass through the crystals with your precise smaller hitbox while crouch dashing. The secret room you arrive in you'll find a double dash crystal and two designated spots to do demodashes through. After you do these both, you'll fall into the next room you would have arrived in from the previous room.

Room 8

This room has some skull binoculars available to preview the room, if needed. Starting from the left ledge, fall down and do a wavedash to the right off the falling platform below, then dash straight up into the double dash crystal. Hold left to reach the first key token, fall a bit and move right, then dash up-right and straight up. This will collect the second key token and allow you to fall down slow enough such that you can move left beneath the spikes on the bridge and collect the double dash crystal as it appears again. From there, fall a bit more and you can dash straight right and then up-right and climb up the key-activated platform. When you get on top of it, you'll collect the last key token, and the platform will quickly move far to the right and take you to the end of the room.

Room 9

Do a wavedash to the right, then shortly after do a dash up-right into the dash crystal above the crystals, but note that the wind will make the wavedash a bit tougher. Continue right after collecting the dash crystal and fall a bit before dashing into the spring on the falling platform to the right. The platform will fall shortly after, at which point you can continue right. Dash up-right and fall into the lower dash crystal, then use that dash to reach the spring of the first of three falling platforms to the right. After the bounce, dash up-right again into the other dash crystal, then dash into the next spring. Move back right after being bounced left and wait to dash into the last spring and cause that falling platform to fall and open up the next area. You can then dash into a feather which you can take right, up, and right again to then grab the next falling platform. Jump to the left and move back right as it falls, then dash into the other feather nearby. Take this feather to the right going up and under the last falling platform to then loop around and grab the right side of the falling platform. Jump to the right, then dash up-left and climb to the end.

Room 10

This room has some skull binoculars available to preview the room, if needed. In this room there will be six key tokens scattered about that you will need to bounce on ice balls to get up to while being boosted by the upward wind. The order you do these in is highly customizable and can be changed on the fly depending on your position compared to nearby ice balls. Though not seen in Chapter 8, you are able to refresh your dash whenever you bounce off an ice ball, which means you can dash freely for much of this room thanks to the low gravity and get up high efficiently. Bounce and dash to the right and get up with the circling ice balls on the right side. Bounce and dash straight up twice to get the first key token. Fall a bit and dash left to bounce on another ice ball, then fall into the area below to collect the next key token before quickly dashing straight up to get back up and bounce on the next ice balls. Do a large bounce up and dash straight up to then bounce on one of the ice balls circling to the right, then make your way inside the circle to get another ice ball. Bounce to the left and dash straight up where there's a gap in the ice balls above to land on an ice ball and bounce into the next key token. Bounce up and dash straight up to get out of the circle, then fall a bit to land on another ice ball and dash right to make your way to the other circle of ice balls. Bounce on one ice balls and fall to the next key token, then dash straight up and get back up and bounce on another ice ball. The last key token is in a circle of fire balls so it will be trickier to reach, but you should just use your remaining nearby ice balls until you find a good time to move near the circle and dash straight up into the key token and carefully fall out. Key-activated platforms will move down to allow you to reach the top of the room, so just land on one more ice ball and use the dash you gain to reach one of these and you can make it to the end.

Room 11

This room has some skull binoculars available to preview the room, if needed. Wind will change to blow harshly to the left, meaning that you'll need to do wavedashes to beat the wind. Do three wavedashes to the right to get across the falling platforms and do one more dash straight right to reach a green bubble. Take this green bubble straight right and then dash up-right and grab the wall whilst collecting the key token and opening up the key-activated platform. Climb as high as possible, then hold left as you let go of the climb button and you will make it back to the green bubble. Aim it straight up and then dash straight up and bounce off the spring to the right, then do a dash straight right between the crystals. You'll then reach a checkpoint in the room and the wind will flip to blow harshly to the right, and there will be more skull binoculars available to preview the room, if needed. In this area, you need to dash straight up into springs on the right side of various falling platforms with the right timing. Do a wavedash to the right, then prepare to time a dash straight up right into the spring. Keep going right but nudging carefully to line yourself up to do a dash straight up into the next spring. After this bounce, hold left to make sure you don't hit the spikes to the right. After a bit, you will be able to hold right again and time another dash upward to hit a spring to be bounced to the right once more. After this bounce you need to prepare for a dash straight left into a spring on the next falling platform's right side. Dash up-right to grab a falling platform and climb up it quickly, then jump to the right to reach another, then climb this and jump again to one more, then jump from the top of this falling platform to reach the ending ledge.

Room 12

This room has some skull binoculars available to preview the room, if needed. This room features a lot of conveyor walls and ice walls and a few key tokens to collect along the way. Walk to the right and dash into the first conveyor wall, then ride it up to reach the dash crystal and fall to the right. Collect the key token below, then do a wall bounce off of the ice wall to reach the next conveyor wall. Do this process again to get another key token, then from that wall bounce you'll need to carefully fall down the area to the right with many crystals. You'll collect a double dash crystal, then you need to be quick in lining up a wall bounce on the ice wall to the left after collecting the key token below. Hold down your jump for the wall bounce as much as possible, then do another wall bounce up as late as possible to wrap around a crystal above and grab the key-activated platform which will move to the right after collecting the key token right next to it. Climb down to avoid a crystal to the right then jump to the ledge. However, going to the next room to the right won't give any progress, rather just a preview of the next room, however it will save your respawn point. By watching carefully below, you can see that the way to reach the next room is to jump down from this ledge and time a straight right dash inbetween crystals into a wall that vanishes to reveal the transition to the next room for real.

Room 13

This room has some skull binoculars available to preview the room, if needed. Dash into the right side of the angry platform and land on it while holding down, then dash straight down as soon as you are directly below the double dash crystal and key token, continuing to hold down so that you avoid the crystals above them. After the angry platform starts moving down, walk right and dash down-left into the angry platform to let it destroy the semi-smashable walls and continue right as you fall down and dash into the feather with the key-activated platform moved away. Take it across the path up and down to the right, then at the end of the path prepare to do a dash up-right into the bottom of the angry platform as it returns, causing it to ram down and into the platform below as you collect a dash crystal, which you can use to dash straight up and get on top of it. Quickly run off and dash left into it to make it move right and smash the semi-smashable walls while you hold down, releasing the button or doing a small jump to reach the double dash crystal as you pass, then jump right and dash straight up twice to reach the end. An alternate method is to dash straight down on the angry platform before it reaches the crystals to the right, then use the slight momentum gained by the angry platform moving up to allow yourself to dash straight up to the end.

Room 14

Most of this room will have you flying with feathers while dodging starblades through the shifting wind. Dash into the first feather and go straight right, adapting if the starblades get in your path. You'll reach another feather, then go up and then quickly down while dodging the starblade and reaching another feather below. Go right and then back up to collect another feather while dodging the other starblade nearby which should still not be in your path. Take the feather to the right and collect many more feathers in quick succession while moving up and down when needed. You could also go to an alternate path below, but this is harder and for hardly any benefit. The wind will eventually reverse direction, making the timing for dodging the starblades a bit tougher. Circling starblades will start to appear as you collect a last feather for the area, then you'll need to fall into the area below with some moon blocks with springs on the top and right of them. Bounce to the right off of the springs and dash to grab the next moon block. Climb up this one when it's safe and aim to bounce up the spring and dash right to bounce off of the springs to the right as well. From there, you can reach another feather with a dash. Take it up a bit then straight right to allow yourself to dash into one last feather, which should be taken straight right to dash into the purple orb which will take you to the next subchapter. If the starblades would get in your way here, move a bit up and down as you go right to stall until you can.