It's common practice across most of RPG speedrunning that a NG+ run is effectively a no limits run from start to finish, often being so obscenely powerful that you blast through everything

I'd recommend you actually do the bare minimum of research before you start talking about categories and what they constitute as if you're in the know when you clearly haven't looked into it at all

Chrono trigger DOES in fact have a NG+ category that starts timing from gaining control of crono after he gets out of bed and ends as soon as you beat the final boss (which is incredibly quickly because you can access Lavos extremely quickly on a NG+ file) and takes a little over 6 minutes to complete

the WHOLE point of NG+ is that you go from start to finish as fast as possible with unlimited prep within what is available ingame.

As for the other thing, secretbunnyninja has two NG+ runs on the same leaderboard because this game's leaderboard is set up so that the story route you take is a variable on the leaderboard and don't overwrite, so if you run different story routes you will have multiple runs on the leaderboard.

I'm quite late on this since i only check the site every week or two unless i have something to submit, but here it is

since the community for this game is fairly small to begin with (even when it IS active) any rule discussions should prob be discussed with the entire community, and while this is a fairly visible space for that, a more reliable way to speak with everyone is in the general final fantasy speedrun discord here (in the type-0 channel, of course) https://discord.gg/0tjIC3eQA7VFd6Qw

i personally wouldn't have any problem with load time remover if this is gonna get made so long as it's public and everyone's ok with it, but others in the discord might have points to discuss so it's prob a good idea to pop on in and everyone can discuss it in there before we decide

Yep i was worried that you guys might've had this misunderstanding but was worried about reaching out through dms and such at risk of sounding condescending and had no public way to reach out really (though in hindsight i guess i could've used this, i forget srcom forums exist).

NG+ speedruns effectively boil down to "do everything in your power to make the game fall over, no holds barred". There's already a run by anubit3blad3 that does whichever missions he likes from 2016, so it's always been a thing. I am glad the misunderstanding is cleared and i am sorry i didn't reach out sooner making you guys effectively waste time in certain spots (looking at you big bridge code crimson)

a large part of why PC/Console are split in the first place is the speed modifier, so use it, the rest of us do. It's also probably a part of why there's a lot more traction on PC as a whole since it does make the run significantly faster, yet both harder (to control sometimes) and easier (to dodge things) at the same time.

People already have a route and are doing runs, the discord is talking about it already so join it. Glitchless is not so simple as to "just make a category" because a ruleset needs to be clearly defined in a game with wacky shit like this one

Can't say for sure since it's been a very long time since i looked into any of this game or saw any runs, but it's most likely to unlock the next tier of shop (10 battles), fleeing from fights counts as a battle for this count. The reasoning for taking the mission instead of just doing clan fights would be because it's on a tile you're already sat on

Artes other than spells can use the matk stat https://aselia.fandom.com/wiki/ToV_-_Yuri_Lowell:_Artes

If you're running on ps4 you don't need blackout to begin with (for the grind, and for lots of weaker fights), since caustic blast targets the entire battlefield in that version for whatever reason.

The grind is unlikely to change immensely with growth items because arts are secondary to the fact you need enough HP to survive H+H/Young -> Conqueror, and you need enough AP to cast blackout on turn 1 to go fast.

The extra movement speed on ps4 actually also somewhat gets cancelled out by obscene load times, but idk what they'd look like if you had like an SSD in it or something.

Otherwise, great to hear you're interested, the game is still great, even if parts of the speedrun are kinda questionable.

I'm down, i did one run once upon a time in 2015, and was awful, and still will be. I'd likely need an entire setup, more or less. I'm available almost all event, Other than three runs (Tales of Berseria, Xenoblade chronicles X, and Rabi Ribi) on stream two that i want to be there for (and any other events that i decide to take part in after this point).

I arrive in Copenhagen on the 19th at like 9am, Flying out from Gatwick. Flexible on meeting up and going places anytime after i arrive, more or less, whether from Copenhagen airport or the train station at the other end.

Yes this is mid-run, a run that promptly got killed because at this point i just wanted to get a video to post this after a lol blackdale and a lol grind.

Here is a thing. Emmy nightbloom is not a thing you have no control over.

Fights in this game, especially fiery idol and final fights, are basically impossible to write notes for. there's a couple things to know like turn 1 curse on heaven's lord and Battlefield arts in final fights but for the most part everything is reaction based. notes would mostly only cover Units/arts/shopping/unions, that type of stuff.

IDK what to suggest other than follow unit setups in videos or experiment with your own and repeat fights until you know how to react to things, since most everything is a giant RNGfest (commands/enemy crits/etc), not just fiery idol.

Edit: Also, don't put Irina in the party asap, and do Hinnah/Hannah base (Southeast) first with her out of the party. This will make Emmy request it instead of her.

Just got an 8:42 on beta branch on Iron fastmode. Requesting extra category (or categories) for beta branch runs, unless you'd rather i simply submit it to normal leaderboard.

Edit:

Edit2: Of course, as soon as i finish this and reload the game, there's a beta patch that makes fast mode even faster lol

The global rule for emulators in (all) speedrunning (and racing) (outside of Tool assisted stuff, naturally) is to not use any functions not originally present on console anyway, so it really shouldn't need to get stated in every game's rules. Emulator usage is, in fact, fairly commonly allowed in smaller communities, as long as the emulator isn't woefully inaccurate.

things like RAM watchers and savestates explicitly move any run into the realm of Tool-assisted instantly, because that's what they are. Tools outside of what is readily available in a console setting.

it's not so much about the grinding -route-, as much as the fact that yunica's combat is woefully slow without her magic. in Toal's case his basic attacks are pretty good (especially jump slash on anything you can use it on), and godspeed is an overwhelmingly mediocre damage option, so skipping an emerald loses you next to zero dps. however Yunica's charged whirlwind does a significantly higher percent of the damage you deal, and is -almost- not even worth using uncharged in most cases. in particular, the fight with Epona 1 would become FAR more RNG based and harder to manipulate her in any way.

as a seperate note, it'd also pretty much force m+kb for up to epona for consistent combo cancelling so that you actually have some dps and some control over epona.

The toal clip, at the least, we know very well about, and is simply a corner clip (corners in this game, are not very solid at all, as i'm sure you know). it's fairly precise tbh and there's easier ways over that gap nowadays without pressing the switch.

The first Yunica clip would have to be done pretty fast for it to save any time overall, since everything up to Epona 1 (especially epona 1) would slow down, including mobs for levels.

IIRC alaktorn has a way into the room for the talisman without having it, though iirc you'd need to get it anyway later for the evil ring i think.

if the other door is the one that leads straight to velagunder's chamber then that'd also have to be done pretty quickly since it doesn't take very long to open that particular door in the first place.

this said, still good finds. Technically timesaves are there. what's happening, as far as i can tell, is that doors in this game don't check for collision very well (possibly because they move?), and you're simply pushing halfway through before the game knows that it should be blocking you, so it pushes you out the other side. Probably. Doors are still kind of a mystery in some ways (gelaldy door whyyyyyyy)

i Fiddled with this a little when i first changed to PC version, including exiting out the menu after the first load dialogue aswell, but couldn't find anything at all. That's not to say there's nothing to be found, but i personally couldn't find anything within a few hours of trying.

i imagine if someone wanted to do a completion category for this it'd just be a plat run. plat in this game covers close to all the content (all mirages, coliseum, minigames, sidequests), though there's also some fairly unfortunate ones like all chests and mastering many mirage boards.

I could understand if someone wanted to just do a catch all mirages as a sort of mid-way point but there's definitely a real completion category for this game full of content you'd miss just imprisming all mirages.

Seeing the discussion and seeing people do runs here i'm wondering a couple things, and figured i should say something before people grind out runs with potentially unideal setups:

1. Assuming you haven't farmed buns (see below), have you considered just using Shippujinrai(single target)/Crescent moon(multiple bosses in one fight) in Monk class with Natural talent, Patk+20%, Barrage/pierce default, and Eye of the wolf (start battle in wolf stance). at Level 99 with level 11 Monk, this passive setup allows even 1.0 multiplier attacks to easily hit for max damage (on literally everything in the story), and shippujinrai not only has priority, but also an incredibly short attack animation. 16 max damage attacks kills every single story boss in the game, bar none, even on normal difficulty, on hp values alone. there's bosses like Diamante who throw a wrench in this of course, but realistically you need a different strat anyway

2. Have you guys considered farming Buns from Ba'al? For those not in the know, they give permanent stats. realistically, they give you the ability to hit max damage with almost any ability you want in the game. for the record, my Yew is currently sat at 9999 mp (AKA i never need to restore it), 999 atk (of course) with the above setup for physical, and 700+ Magic attack focusing on magic instead (which is what i'm going to test). This took me about 90 minutes.

3. Assuming buns, Meteor+Rain Spellcraft. 16(4) hits, pretty fast, can probably hit for most bosses' full hp bar per 4 bp. Overkill (and slowish animation) for the first few chapters, but damn fast if you have to attack multiple times with other strats. Can't be reflected(diamante :<). Can also pair with Chainspell i think for double the hits. 2 animations for 159984.

Other potential things: Mass Attack/Quad Wield (159984 in a single BP but requires <20% hp... in a game that relatively frequently heals you). Basic attacks/quad wield - no hp requirement but 39996 per bp. Problem with this is that attack animations take years, and 4 characters spamming shippujinrai is probably WAY faster on animations alone.

TL:DR, farm buns, no mp worries ever, no damage worries ever, focus on # of hits rather than damage per hit.

thoughts?