Double Cross: “Ace The Test” Achievement Guide

Ace The Test is the rarest achievement in the game, and appears at first glance to be an exceptionally daunting challenge. However, it is actually shockingly easy with the right approach – most people who can finish the game normally have the skill needed to get this achievement.
I will try to keep spoilers low, but I recommend finishing the game before consulting this guide.

After equipping Glass Cannon, there are two remaining equip slots. Neither slot is necessary to make this strategy work, so I recommend choosing Shield for the first slot and Hot Diggity Dodge for the second. Shield is a no-brainer, allowing you to take a few hits without losing. Hot Diggity Dodge is not as important as Shield, but it will make a few sections less punishing.

This fight features no RNG: each phase has a predetermined attack pattern, and the attacks themselves have no random elements. This, combined with the boosted damage output of Glass Cannon, means the battle requires no on-the-spot thinking with a small amount of memorization.

Suspect X begins the fight with a punching attack from left to right, and another from right to left.
Position yourself on the right side of the screen, spot-dodge the first attack, and counterattack before the second punch, The best way to quickly build up damage, in my experience, is a stomp followed by an aerial heavy attack. You will have just enough time to dodge the second punch, after which X will be very far away. Don’t worry about chasing after him, instead position yourself under the left edge of the portal in the background to prepare for the next attack.

X will float to the center of the screen and summon four laser walls, which will move first to the left, then to the right, then return to their starting position and dissipate as X returns to the bottom-left corner of the arena.
You can get a few skyward strikes in on X as he moves to the center and summons the lasers, but very soon the lasers will pose a serious threat. Unlike X’s punching attack, lasers will kill you regardless of whether your shield is active. Luckily, there’s an easy workaround. If you readjust your position such that Zahra’s right edge barely overlaps X’s left edge, the lasers will not hurt you but your skyward strikes will still land. Hit X with as many skyward strikes as possible, making sure to switch to barely overlapping X’s other side when the lasers begin moving to the right. When X returns to the bottom-left, follow him as soon as possible, dodge-rolling through any lasers still remaining.

Attack X with the aforementioned stomp followed by heavy aerial. At this point, he should go down to the first stomp, skipping the teleport attack and beginning phase 2. If the teleport attack is not skipped, it can easily be dodged: don’t be in the center for the first teleport slam, do be in the center for the other four teleport slams. X will return to the bottom-left corner afterwards.

Now there are two of them! I’ll call the second one Y. We’re still going to focus our damage on X, though.

X and Y begin with another punching attack, once again doing two punches across the screen. X and Y start on opposite sides and mirror each others’ movement.
It’s best to wait this one out in the center of the screen, spot-dodging both punches. After dodging the second pair of punches, immediately hurry to the left side of the screen.

For this heinous attack, Y will remove the floor while X spawns a homing orb with a funky hitbox. If you contact the orb very briefly, your shield may save you, but often the orb will ignore your shield and kill you.
Before X spawns the orb, hit him with as many dive kicks, stomps, and aerial heavy attacks as you can get away with. The orb won’t hurt you until it reaches its full size and gains a red ring at its outer edge; attacking when the horizontal line is visible should be safe. When you see the orb start to take shape, jump at the wall above X and wall jump off of it. A sling anchor will move into range just as you make this wall jump. Sling to the top-right of the screen and hold against the wall to slowly slide down it. The floor will return before you fall and before the orb reaches you. Another laser attack is coming, so return to the same left-of-center position as in phase 1. Make sure not to bump into the orb, as it takes a few seconds to despawn.

X performs the laser attack from phase 1 while Y does the punching attack.
The strategy here is largely the same as with the laser attack in phase 1 – land skyward strikes from just outside of the lasers’ horizontal range. Y provides only a slight complication, necessitating a few air-dodges as you return from a skyward strike. Hot Diggity Dodge gives you plenty of leeway with how early your air-dodge begins. When X finishes the attack, he will return to the bottom-left corner. Chase him, as in the first phase.

Just like in phase 1, X’s health is now low enough to finish the fight before the next phase begins. X will attempt to summon an orb as Y begins teleporting, but you have plenty of time to attack before the orb gets a hitbox.

Phase 3 is identical to phase 1. Punching attack, laser attack, dead. Maybe a teleport if you’re slow.

And just like that, Suspect X is defeated, only able to get 7-9 attacks out across all three phases. It honestly surprised me just how reliable and easy this strategy was to execute. I’ve attempted the challenge a few more times to ensure that my first success wasn’t a fluke, and didn’t die once. It’s almost easier than just fighting the boss normally with my normal equips was, and much easier than topping the leaderboard on Pillar Panic or Bowhemoth. If you haven’t gotten this achievement yet, you should go give it a try. I believe in you!