The Slayer is a DROD element that unfortunately doesn't often get used that well. Most of the time it's just plopped down in a room to harass Beethro while he's trying to do some otherwise mundane task. This hold thankfully breaks from that trend and actually focuses on interesting slayer manipulation tricks. It has some flaws, but it's definitely worth playing if you want to hone your slayer manipulation skills.
There have been other slayer manipulation holds that have done a nice job of this in the past, but they often focus on wall pushing. This hold really focuses on a couple of less common slayer pushes that don't require a wall, as well as some of the finer points of slayer orb seeking mechanics. If you aren't familiar with those particular techniques, there's a nice tutorial level that demonstrates them and lets you practice them again and again.
That brings up one of the major downsides of this hold. There's a lot of repetition. Many of the rooms have you repeat a technique 6 or even 8 times when 2 or three would have gotten the idea across. This is actually probably a good way to internalize and remember the techniques, but it can definitely feel tedious. Some of the secret rooms later on are also pretty high up on the obscure and fiddly level. But there were definitely some very fun puzzles mixed in, and the hold did a good job teaching the prerequisite skills for most of them so that I definitely enjoyed solving most of the required room puzzles.
On the whole, if you are looking for a good hold to help you learn to deal with slayers more effectively this one is definitely worth a try. If you're looking for a quick fun romp then this hold probably won't provide that for you, but if that's what you're after you probably aren't looking for holds titled "
Slayer Manipulation"
anyway.
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