×In my successful run, I got the Goblin-Biter, Longsword and Invisibility Potion. (I used the Invisibility Potion to get the 9 ATK in the Seep room, to help kill the Pirate.)

Other 3-item combinations may be possible, such as getting the Bronze Shield instead of the Goblin-Biter, or the Steel Shield instead of the Invisibility Potion.

×Rule 8 can be reached with only four items, using the Invisibility Potion to walk through the wubba and adder. This cuts out the entire accessory swap chain. To save the Invisibility Potion for later, I had to get the Steel Shield to survive the Pirate.

Seven items are necessary to complete Rule 8: Wooden Blade, Briar Hacker, Flippers, Grappling Hook, Wyrmsmiter, Speed Potion, and Invisibility Potion. (The Speed Potion is used in the gel room. It is possible to fight the Slayer with only the Invisibility Potion.)

The Lucky Blade and Oremite Shield are not necessary.

×The main weapon upgrades (Wooden Blade, Short Sword, Goblin-Biter, Longsword) are essential. The Machines simply don't increase your ATK fast enough to let you skip a weapon. And while it's possible to do without the Goblin-Biter in a normal run, in a no-shield run there isn't enough HP available.

It's possible to reach the Rock Giant without ever taking a shield or accessory. However, the Slayer is a problem. There are three ways to deal with him:

×Try to bring at least 2400 HP and 2020 GR into Rule 8 (and don't forget the greckle gates at the Rule 7 exit when planning this).

You have to kill a few Seep beforehand to get enough GR. When deciding which ones... killing the five in Rule 6 nets you +9 ATK, enough to one-shot Fegundos.

2120 GR is better, as then you don't need to kill the Aumtlich in Rule 8 3N6E. You can't kill this Aumtlich without taking a beam hit, and as so much of Rule 8's HP is in the form of large potions, it's difficult to manage your HP with much precision. In my successful run, I did not kill this Aumtlich.

Scoring is secondary to completion. Don't be afraid to use a skeleton key as a yellow. (My keys on entering Rule 8 were 2/3/1/1. As you can see, I finished with spare green keys but used all the rest.)

I entered the west wing of Rule 8 before the east wing.