Ori and the Will of the Wisps – Windtorn Ruins Escape

Info

[EDIT] About 10 hours after I posted this guide, the devs responded to a Steam discussion: Worm speed is indeed higher in Hard, and is reduced slightly in the upcoming patch. This may make this guide obsolete, but maybe it will still help someone. 
 
The "spoilers" contained in this guide only pertain to the escape sequence! That includes the enemy and your abilities. I literally have Ori WotW minimized right now after the sequence and playing for the first time, I can’t spoil what comes afterwards, don’t worry. 
 
 
 

Preparation

Moves: You’re going to give your Dash key so much love you might as well marry it. You will also need your Grapple, but far less often. 
Shards: Take Sticky, it helps with 1 spot in the entire escape. Triple Jump is a massive help, I’m sure it’s possible without but I’m not going to try. You can take Resilience, just in case you hit a lot of spikes, but that’s rare. 
Attacks: None needed. (Imagine having to use Light Burst too…) 
 
 
 

First part: Before the long drop

Rocks leading to first sand: Don’t double jump, only do quick jump+dash to get across gaps. You get to practice this part the most, obviously. 
 
First sand: Don’t use Dash, it becomes harder to navigate. Spam jump after you exit sand to immediately jump off the vine. You can use Dash, but you’ll have to aim better than by jumping. 
 
Sand before spike drop: Do an upwards curve. If you manage to Dash-exit the sand, it becomes easier to immediately enter the next sand. Otherwise, immediately spam jump so you get in Dash distance of the higher sand part. You may die a few times at this part. Don’t worry, you get to practice this quite often too. 
 
 
 

Second part: Spike drop and short hall

Spike drop: Don’t Dash off the ledge. You can save a lot of time by falling past at least two obstacles without needing to slow down. Do not jump to slow down. Instead, tap Glide once (don’t hold it down), this will slow you down just enough to be able to steer past the obstacles. Don’t use your Dash yet. 
 
After spike drop: Dash left while in the air. You need to get right+under the sandbag, so your Dash gets you toward the upper sand part. You will do this sandbag-Dash multiple times later. 
 
Narrow upwards sand: Just after entering, you can usually Dash at least once, it is straight enough. You absolutely have to Dash-exit the sand to save time. 
 
 
 

Third part: the worst part, upwards sand-air-slalom

This is the most difficult part of the escape (imho). 
 
1. Grapple up immediately after the Dash-exit from earlier. Aim yourself slightly to the right; but leave about 1Ori-length space to the sand to the right. If you get too close, Ori will try to climb/stick instead, and you will not be able to Dash inside the sand immediately. (Removing Sticky doesn’t matter.) 
2. Dash diagonally up inside the sand and immediately make a ")" curve inside. If you hit the wall, you may die. You also need to Dash-exit the sand, diagonally upwards. 
3. Do the same thing again: Get slightly but not too close to the upper left sand, Dash inside, make a "(" curve, and Dash-exit. 
4. Suddenly, the worm will get a burst of speed after exiting the narrow sand on the left. This is a critical moment. You will often die at this point. Spam Dash to the right and slightly upwards through the sand and out. You need to get as high as possible near the ceiling. 
 
 
 

Fourth part: long hall, worm burrowing below you

This is the most forgiving part of the escape. You can even mess up once and fall and still make it sometimes. 
 
1. After exiting the sand as high as possible, climb/jump over the falling pillar. Sticky speeds up the climbing process here. Grapple to the right as soon as you are in range. 
2. Sandbags: You need to Dash through multiple hanging sandbags. Try to line up your jumps (Triple Jumpe helps a lot) so you end up slightly below and to the left of them, so you can Dash diagonally upwards. This lets you gain height and get over the falling pillars without slowing down. Remember to Dash in the air too. 
3. After repeating this multiple times, there is a Trampolineflower at the end. Jump on it for the next section, where it increases in difficulty again. 
 
If you fall, keep Jump-Dashing to the right, you can still make it! 
 
 
 

Fifth part: Up and left to a dead end

Air sand layers: Spam Dash. Remember "up, up, left". Once on the ground, spam the Jump-Dash, there is a small ledge which will slow you down if you stay completely flat. 
 
Wall: Dash down into the sand "safe spot". Keep going down so Ori repeatedly rams their head on the floor, that way you don’t hit the spikes. Watch above, once the wurm is past the sand you immediately need to exit and run left through the now open passageway. 
 
 
 

Sixth part: You almost made it!

Upwards sandbags+grapple: Stay concentrated, you sometimes have to Grapple instead of Dash. 
 
The rest is pretty straightforward and less punishing. As such, once I managed to get this far the 6th or 7th time, I managed to get out. Unfortunately, that means I don’t remember it that well so I have no tips! Sorry. 
 
 
 

One last thing

This escape is (most likely) the hardest part of both Ori games. Some have claimed it is more difficult on Hard, some say it is the same for each difficulty. I’m playing a 100% run on Hard and this section was far, far more difficult than any (previous) bosses, beating the pc in the races, or solving any optional platforming puzzles to get a collectible. If you are prone to rage (like me), you will rage. Don’t give up, you will beat this! 
 

This is all about Ori and the Will of the Wisps – Windtorn Ruins Escape; I hope you enjoy reading the Guide! If you feel like we should add more information or we forget/mistake, please let us know via commenting below, and thanks! See you soon!