Outland Advanced: Gold

Here are my findings on the Advanced Gold races in Outland:

Auchindoun Coaster - Difficult (or Easy with Skyhopping*)

This is a vigor management race with rings that are frequency spaced apart. That means this could be quite difficult except that it's a race that greatly benefits from skyhopping*. Skyhop* as you go through the second ring and then whenever you see a long straightforward distance to the next ring, unless it's a steep downhill. Doing this, I beat the timer by 5 seconds on my first attempt.

Blade's Edge Brawl - Difficult

You might think a race through the spikes of Blade's Edge would be a horror to navigate, but, while the obstacles are an important part of this course's challenge, they aren't nearly as bad as you might think. The primary challenge here is actually managing your speed and vigor. For the first half of the race you have to keep your speed up without running out of vigor, which means that skyhopping* in strategic spots is borderline essential. For the second half, spam Surge Forward more aggressively, though still not quite at 100%.

Coilfang Caper - Moderately Difficult (or Moderately Easy with Skyhopping*)

Spamming Surge Forward heavily throughout the race got me close to Gold but not quite. Probably it can be done, as my vigor management wasn't perfect, but by throwing in a few skyhops* in the open straight stretches I cleared Gold by almost a full second despite cutting a wiggly line in a couple places.

Eco-Dome Excursion - Moderately Easy

A long race with a loose timer. Push fairly aggressively throughout; when I did so, I ran out of vigor in a couple spots but recovered quickly and still beat Gold by 6 seconds. The only navigational challenge is that it's tough to see where the next ring is when you enter or exit an eco-dome, but you can if you look closely. Note that whenever you enter an eco-dome, you never need to turn left; you only ever need to maintain a straight course or angle a bit to the right. Also note that you can fly through all the floating purple rocks except the biggest ones, so don't worry about trying to dodge those.

Fel Pit Fracas - Easy

The first stretch of rising balls of flame complicates the race, but after that they are strangely just next to where you want to go -- so if you strike an accurate course you can concentrate on speed. There is a stretch in the middle of the race where you can become vigor-starved (during which skyhopping will help cover the ground but is by no means required), but you can push hard for the final stretch.

Hellfire Hustle - Easy

Don't worry about the rising fireballs -- after the first cluster, they're mostly nowhere near where you want to fly. If you skyhop* the big gaps between rings, you can otherwise fly the race normally.

Razorthorn Rise Rush - Very Hard

Oh man. Usually races with a lot of obstacles are mitigated by a loose timer, but Gold on this race requires you to navigate accurately and still push your speed. You enter the thorns four times during this race. By far the most difficult is the first. There is no shortcut to just running the race a bunch of times to find out the hard way where all the snags are. Coming out of it there is an upward twist that you may be tempted to use Skyward Ascent for, but every time I did I lost control, so I recommend sticking with Surge Forward, as you need to have been doing all the way up to this point. Once you're properly out, though, skyhop* about twice to make up time before going into the thorns again. The second and third times in the thorns are much easier, as is the fourth except for a blind twist you'll never navigate unless you know it's there. Basically the fourth time you enter the thorns you have to drop straight down immediately after a ring. It looks like you're just going to ground yourself on top of the thorns, but there's a hole there -- a mercifully wide one, at least, although note that you can actually fly through the roof anyway -- that will take you to a ring inside. Then you're out and only have to spam Skyward Ascent a bit for the final incline to the finish line. I can't emphasize the importance of dodging the obstacles enough, though. In some races, glancing a wall will slow you down but not ruin your run. Here, you probably can't afford spending the extra time or vigor it takes to recover. Your lines have to be clean.

Shadowmoon Slam - Difficult (or Moderately Easy with Skyhopping*)

With a few exceptions, the rings are close together, so there isn't a lot of room to do anything fancy but spam Surge Forward. There are three spots where the rings are further apart, however, and I couldn't get Gold without skyhopping* these. Go a little easy on the vigor for the first third of the race, because you'll need it in the second. A narrow tunnel is the primary difficulty of the final third.

Shattrath City Sashay - Difficult

A tight timer and lots of things to get caught on, especially an early tunnel, are this race's difficulties. Rings are close together, so limited opportunities for skyhopping*, which probably aren't necessary if you push hard enough.

Skettis Scramble - Easy

The main challenge here is avoiding obstacles on your first pass through the forest; the second pass isn't as obstructed. Optionally skyhop* as you leave the island in the center of the lake. Spam Skyward Ascent on the final incline up the mountains and then Surge Forward through the final rings.

Telaar Tear - Moderately Easy

Start by spamming Surge Forward moderately hard. When you reach the sharp incline, use Skyward Ascent about twice to get over the top. The drop on the other side is partially blind and may be sharper than you expect. At this point you should start spamming Surge Forward very aggressively until the end of the race. Near the end, there is a spot where you fly through a tree; there is a ring close on the other side that was lower than you may expect, so plan for that. Mainly the key to this race, though, is a lead foot on the accelerator.

Tempest Keep Sweep - Difficult (or Easy with Skyhopping*)

This is a very tight vigor management race -- unless you make liberal use of skyhopping in all that open space and long distances between rings, in which case it is still a vigor management race but one you can clear with lots of time left over. Start with a Surge Forward, then skyhop after the first ring and again after the second. Use your own judgment from there. If you haven't yet mastered the art of skyhopping, this is a great race to practice it on, as there is so much room you can wiggle off the optimal path by quite a bit and still recover.

Warmaul Wingding - Very Easy

A fun race for a great zone. Straightforward, almost no obstacles, lots of open space. You can run out of vigor if you spend it too hard early on, but the timer is generous and gives you lots of room to fly the race your way.

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* "Skyhopping" involves using Skyward Ascent to gain horizontal speed for a more sustained burst than Surge Forward can manage. To do it, quickly aim straight up, hit Skyward Ascent, and immediately aim horizontally again. It takes practice to hold an accurate course while doing this, but if you pull it off it converts the vertical momentum you normally gain with Skyward Ascent into considerable horizontal momentum.

Figuratively literally crying and screaming at Tempest Keep Sweep until I read your explanation of skyhopping, allowing me to easily hit gold in one go despite trying for about an hour beforehand. I didn't even do it right more than like twice.

Thank you so much for this! Definitely helped a ton.