You can use either keyboard or controller. Use what feels the most comfortable.

Except for a small part in the very beginning of the game(the first slope you spawn on top of), use disk mode at all times.

Flying high in the sky is way slower than staying as low to the ground as possible.

Just before you hit the ground during a dive or before jumping a hill, spam jump to reduce friction and gain a speed boost.

Glide power ups are not worth it because you will be near the ground at all times anyway.


Video example of a sub 3 minute run

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kskTD0y9x2c

It's just as the title says. I personally use controller, but I know very skilled runners who use keyboard. It's all down to what you prefer to use.

Most of the time but not always, air-time is your enemy. While clouds and wind do extend your flight time, that is actually the opposite of what you want if you desire to go fast.The fastest way to move in the game is to stay in disk mode and constantly dive off of slopes. So what should you do when there are no slopes to dive off of? What should you be doing when there is a large stretch of flat ground that must be crossed? The answer is ground bounces: rhythmic bounces off of the ground using jump at the right time to gain as much lift as possible. Then after a short time diving hard into the ground and just before hitting the surface rapidly pressing jump to regain the same lift you got before. Doing this quickly in a smooth rhythm will significantly boost your speed. When done correctly you should be gaining speed for every bounce you successfully complete. This is key to reaching max speeds. Jumping. You will be pressing jump almost all of the time when doing low strats. Whenever you go for a dive or whenever you go up a hill you will be jumping. Spamming even. The reason for this is that jumping repetitively greatly reduces the amount of ground friction and helps you go for even bigger jumps when ascending and boosts when landing. Imagine that you are a jet ski and that the ground beneath you are waves. The main jumps performed are double jumps(flat sections and boosts for height), and spamming jumps uphill and downhill (corkscrews and large dives)

Jay Weston Developer of Exo One
Ground Effect
How To Go Faster

Hidden in the world are power-ups. When picking them up a line of text tells you that your gliding power has been extended. Because ground/low strats are primary way to move in the run, having extended gliding power isn't necessary for going as quickly as possible.