10 Easy Time Saving Skips for Any%'s

1st: After getting the crown and giving it to Haedrig, you can go straight to the cathedral garden and to Leoric's passage, which skips talking to Cain in town.

2nd: You don't have to talk to Kormac the templar after helping him, you can go straight to his stash (forward and left) and he will follow.

3rd: You do not have to talk to the enchanter after freeing her from the 1st spider lady. You can go and find the Khazra staff right away. You may doubt this from the quest marker, but once you find the staff, the quest will shift.

4th: In act 2, after you kill the first cultists, you can run past the guards protecting the people, it will auto-complete.

5th: After going into the sewers in search of Adria, upon entering the wretched pit, there is a very small window that you can enter the area of the snakes and kill some during the cutscene, making it more likely that you will not have to wait for them to uncloak. This is mostly only possible in NG+.

6th: While looking for the crucible, you want to go as right as you possibly can, it will always be to the right (Right being top right of the screen).

7th: In act 3, while going to the first catapult to raise, you do not need to stop to talk to the quest giver, just go straight to the demons at the barricade.

8th: In act 3, after crossing the 2nd bridge and killing the siege beast, you can enter the crater immediately without stopping to talk to Adria.

9th: In act 5, you do not have to stop to talk to Victor at the start before defending the church. Just go past and open the door.

10th: After getting into the Pandemonium Fortress, you don't have to talk to your ghost buddy, you can just go straight right and skip the text.

Most of these were taken from dowolf's NG+ monk run.

Boss Rush Strats

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zbSUlUfggIpQdThHLgsZHNdk5tBCpIAFYBo7Wyy0HPI/edit

A community compiled list about different class strategies and general help for the boss rush category.

Current Known Soft-locks for PC

1. In Act 1 while saving Cain from the skeletons, if you kill all of the skeletons then Cain will not talk to you and you can not progress.

2. Also in Act 1, if you manage to kill the cultist in the Khazra Den before he manages to say, "Kill him!" then Maghda will not appear and you can not progress. (Thanks Garfm)

3. In Act 2, if you go too fast after exiting the first time you go into Emperor Hakan's room, then sometimes you can leave Leah behind. She will then not move and you can not progress after that..

4. In Act 2, if you kill all of the enemies in the Wretched Pit, where you save Adrea, before the cutscene can end, then the screen will remain black and you can not progress.

5. In Act 3, if you leave enemies near the first two catapults as you run by them, there is a chance that their progress meters' will simply stop filling, so no progressing there. Garfm has said that the first catapult only locked when he left an elite pack near it, and it is mostly wise to stay at the 2nd catapult and kill the 4 devouring maws.

6. In Act 5, when taking Lorath to the ruins, similar to #3, Lorath can get stuck behind and he will not trigger the next quest, and you can not progress. This can be fixed by teleporting to town and back however.

7. Supposedly it is possible to one shot Diablo (and maybe other multi-phase bosses), but he will get stuck in his death animation.

8. If you talk to an NPC and hit escape at the exact same time, you will get an error and be thrown out of the game. Not exactly a soft-lock, but still not good.

9. It is possible for a siege rune to not drop, video example shown here: https://clips.twitch.tv/UglyFlaccidLeopardKappaPride
Possibly caused by knocking the enemy back immediately upon spawning.

If you know of any or find any not on this list, let me know and I will add it.

How to start speedrunning Diablo 3

__**Choose a category**__
There are 9 main categories for Diablo 3 speedruns. The Any% categories require you to complete act 1-5 in campaign mode as fast as possible but there are also categories focused on fast leveling or killing all bosses (usually played in adventure mode).

The main categories are:
* Any% NG (with all 7 classes as subcategories)
* Any% NG+ (with all 7 classes as subcategories)
* Any% co-op, NG
* Any% co-op, NG+
* Level 1 to 70, NG
* Level 1 to 70, NG+
* Any% Console, NG (with all 7 classes as subcategories)
* Any% Console, NG+ (with all 7 classes as subcategories)
* Boss Rush (with all 7 classes as subcategories), NG only

__**Difference between NG and NG+**__
NG stands for "New Game". These speedruns require the creation of a new character and you're not allowed to use paragon points, stash, jeweler, blacksmith, mystic or vendors. In NG+ runs, you use an existing character with any build and all of your paragon points (with a restriction in the Level 1 to 70 category). For these reasons, NG runs are longer than NG+ runs but you don't have to spend hours/days creating a build first.

__**Rules**__
Each category has its own set of rules. It's important that you read and understand these rules before you start running. Check up on them every now and then, as changes do happen (the latest change disallowed seasonal characters). This is especially important when new patch notes are announced.

__**Recommendations before you start speedrunning**__
It is highly recommended that you watch a speedrun in the category you want to run before you make your first attempt. If you have any questions, feel free to join the discord channel or ask in the forum (the discord channel is way more active though). Do also check out the guides in the Guides section.

__**PC options**__
If you're running on PC, you want to have the following options enabled:
* "Automatically Skip All Cut Scenes" found in the Gameplay tab.
* "Close All Open Windows" assigned (e.g. to the mousewheel) in the Key Bindings tab. Spam this key whenever anyone is talking to skip the conversation.
* Install Diablo 3 on your PC's Solid State Drive (SSD) if it has one, as you can win several seconds from reduced loading times (credit goes to Garfm for these suggestions).

*From here, the rest of this guide mainly applies to the any% categories (campaign mode)*

__**How to get started**__
If you've watched a speedrun and checked out the guides, it is up to you now whether you want to practice a bit before running or just dive in headfirst and complete a run. If you want to practice, there are three things I would recommend you to know about regardless of category: 1) Class strategies and benefits, 2) map layouts and 3) skips and pitfalls. Just keep reading.

__**The classes**__
The most important difference between the classes is whether or not the class has an ability to "skip through walls" like the monk's Dashing Strike or the wizard's Teleport. Most skips and shortcuts rely on these abilities so you need to know how to utilize the skill optimally if it's a part of your build.

__**Builds**__
To my knowledge, there currently is no complete list with up-to-date builds for NG or NG+ runs. Builds may also vary depending on the player's preferences. For NG builds, you can always watch a speedrun and pay attention to skills selected during the run. For NG+ runs (PC), I always show the build I used after talking to Tyrael. For alternative NG+ builds, Garfm has some links listed __[here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gb4dKpGQovuj5cDVG3XpJCvm8zK9B_J2ddHwmwPr8rE/edit)__.

__**The maps**__
Most maps are randomly generated but it is way less random than many new speedrunners or casual players think. Each map has a limited set of "map tiles" they can be generated from and there's usually a pattern in how these map tiles get connected. As an example, in many maps the tiles form a loop you need to pass and if you during a run can identify that you've entered the loop, it gets easier to spot paths that will take you out of the loop again and proceed in the dungeon.

__**Best maps to learn for new speedrunners**__
Some maps have "static borders" meaning that the outline will always be the same while the content inside varies. These maps include Fields of Misery, Dahlgur Oasis and Desolate Sands and the trick to all of them is to follow a specific path. The dungeon(s) you need to find in these maps can only spawn in a limited set of areas and when you know this, there is no need to check the parts of the map, where the dungeon(s) can never spawn. A __[map guide](https://www.speedrun.com/d3_ros/guide/yxrn0)__ can be found in the Guides section and it describes the 9 maps new players should learn.

__**Skips and pitfalls**__
The skips you need to learn and the pitfalls to look out for depend on which category (and class) you chose. For example, in NG runs you need to know about the "Haedrig level up trick" and for classes with wall skip abilities, you need to know how to skip the cultist battle in Leoric's Manor. Check out the guides in the Guides section and watch a speedrun of the category you want to run.

__**Console skips**__
On consoles, you need to manually skip cutscenes and there is no button to skip conversations. It is possible to somewhat skip many conversations, if you move your character out of the "talking area". Do note though that this is not always faster than listening to the conversation. The fastest language to use has yet to be determined.

__**How difficult is it to speedrun Diablo 3? (My personal opinion)**__
A new runner could get incredibly lucky with the maps and get a great run without much practice but it is highly unlikely. To consistently get good times, you need to practice each map and the classes you want to play and due to the randomness, you also need to be persistent. Whether you find NG or NG+ runs more difficult is personal but in my experience, the console version is a bit harder compared to PC due to the controls and the limited view. The technically most difficult (single-player) run I've tried is Monk NG+ on PC as it's so fast that it's extremely difficult to control (ironically, the speed also makes this the class I would recommend to casual players wanting to complete the Sprinter conquest).

Good luck, runners!

Map Guide

Map guide can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OYseWy9qocOxNDNhn25318ulqML7o82PtFU5JdNoebg/edit

NG+ Builds

Builds are based on current world records for each category. These will be updated regularly(ish) as new improvements and builds come along.

Please note: Damage is not really an issue in NG+ as Paragon will usually provide enough damage to one-shot basically anything. Most builds attempt to get as much CDR, Attack Speed, and Resource Cost Reduction as possible depending on the class.

Barbarian - https://maxroll.gg/d3/d3planner/557033834


Crusader - https://maxroll.gg/d3/d3planner/721827068


Demon Hunter - https://maxroll.gg/d3/d3planner/693001580


Monk - https://maxroll.gg/d3/d3planner/775734648


Witch Doctor - https://maxroll.gg/d3/d3planner/989956053


Wizard - https://maxroll.gg/d3/d3planner/753506841


Necro - https://maxroll.gg/d3/d3planner/472118625

NG+ Demon Hunter Setup

So, first of all I have to state that none of this is set in stone, builds change, items change, people keep finding new ways of doing things. With that said though, I do theory-craft a lot of speed builds, and I don't think I've missed anything, so here are my findings!

TL:DR VERSION

Vault: Action shot
Preparation: Focused mind
Shadow power: Any rune
Vengeance: Seethe
Companion: Ferret
Smoke screen: Displacement
Hot pursuit
Perfectionist
Tactical Advantage
Blood Vengeance

3 set shadow (shoulder, chest, feet) + rorg, Leorics crown, gloves of worship, krelms buff belt, hexing pants, prides fall, warzechian armguards, Danetta's hand xbows, rachel's ring of larceny, pandemonium loop, and pretty much any amulet (see below for 'best' choices) Dawn in cube. Boon, wreath and gogok/stricken.

Reforge for cdr/rcr/hatred regen untill you can maintain perma vault and smoke screen, otherwise damage stats (chc and ias not required)


FULL EXPLANATION

Since we're dealing with normal difficulty, damage is rarely an issue, so moving as fast as possible is what's required. There's 2 ways to be fast: Stack movement speed, or use abilities which somehow propel you forwards faster than movement speed normally would in that time-frame. The Demon Hunter happens to have one of these abilities: Vault.

The first thing to note about vault is that movement speed actually affects its animation speed, so the more movement speed you can stack, the faster vault goes, so stack it!

So movement speed is capped at 25% from gear and paragon points, but other items and skills can increase it beyond this.

ITEMS
-----Krelms buff belt: 25% movement speed after not taking damage for 5 seconds (which is pretty much permanent during a speedrun)
-----Warzechian Armguards: 70% movement speed for 3 seconds after destroying a wreckable object.
-----Rachel's ring of larceny: 45-60% movement speed for 4 seconds after fearing an enemy.

LEGENDARY GEMS
-----Wreath of lightning: 25% movement speed during wreath of lightning
-----Boon of the hoarder: 30% movement speed for 2 seconds after picking up gold

SKILLS
-----Smoke screen - displacement rune: 100% movement speed for 1 second
-----Shadow power - shadow glide rune: 30% movement speed during shadow power (normally 5 seconds)

PASSIVE SKILLS
-----Tactical advantage: 60% movement speed for 2 seconds after using vault, smokescree, shadow power or evasive fire backflip
-----Hot pursuit: 20% movement speed for 4 seconds after hitting an enemy

EXTERNAL BUFFS
-----Fleeting shrine: 25% movement speed for 2 minutes
-----Dimensional speed: 20% movement speed for up to 1 minute after destroying wreckable objects (7 minumum) strangely this does not appear to stack with krelms buff belt!

I believe this is every movement speed buff a demon hunter can have, and it's possible to have every single one at the same time for a possible whopping 470% movement speed!

MECHANICS OF THE BUILD
Vault normally costs discipline, which even with a lot of resource cost reduction would be impossible to maintain permanently, That's where the Danetta's hand crossbow set comes in. Danetta's makes vault cost 8 hatred instead of discipline (and puts a 9x multiplier on the damage of vault) With a little bit of resource cost reduction and hatred regeneration, you can just hold down your vault key and speed away!

Shadow power normally last 5 seconds and you'd have to recast it over and over, but with 4 set Shadow's mantle set, shadow power gains the effect of every rune and lasts forever, so mandatory for the build.

Gloves of worship can prove useful if you luck out and get a fleeting shrine - these increase the duration of shrine effect to 10 minutes.

To get the maximum up-time on smokescreen we'll need some discipline regeneration. Preparation with the focused mind rune gives the most discipline per cast, and stacking cooldown reduction allows you to cast this more often. Stacking resource cost reduction will also reduce the cost of smoke screen.

Due to the need for resource cost reduction and cooldown reduction, i like to use leorics crown (75-100% extra gem effect)  with a diamond, and hexing pants of mr yan (25% increased resource regeneration and damage whilst moving) and prides fall (30% reduced resource costs after not taking damage for 5 seconds) 

Jewellery: ring of royal grandeur would be required to maintain 4 set shadow whilst having the above items. Rachel's ring of larceny for movement speed on fear - which means we need to be able to fear. Pandemonium loop can roll up to 15% chance to fear, can get up to 2.6% chance to fear on each weapon, up to 5.1% on rachel's ring, and up to 5.1% on helm, for a total of up to 30.4%. Be advised, you can't fear enemies that get 1 shot - which happens a lot, so don't expect many procs. because of this, you could go with avarice band for pickup radius and obsidian ring of the zodiac for cooldown. As for amulets, there aren't really many choices - Haunt of vaxo for extra damage on bosses, ess of johan to gather enemies (usefull on some boss fights/events, can help with both boon/wreath gem procs too) or rondal's locket for pickup radius (helps with picking up gold for boon gem movement speed)

Dawn in cube - 65% reduced cooldown on vengeance - see below.

3rd Gem: Gogok of swiftness for more cooldown reduction, not a requirement, but can help if you're low. Otherwise I'd suggest Bane of the Stricken for faster boss kills (pretty much instant anyway)

Vault rune: As we have no actual damage dealing abilities, then we need to get damage from vault. The 2 option are Trail of cinders and action shot. Action shot hits everything around you, killing lots of enemies giving lots of gold from boon, and also reliably breaks objects to proc warzechian armguards. Trail of cinders could be useful if you use a cindercoat over prides fall, but the damage isn't great and you break a lot less objects, making warzechian armguards less effective.

2 more skills to go: Vengeance: seethe for the hatred regeneration, and the last is personal preference - if you find yourself running out of hatred, you can use companion: Bat (hatred regeneration plus on use 50 hatred) but my personal preference is companion: ferret - i find this really helps with picking up gold for the increased movement speed from boon.

Passive skills - on top of hot pursuit and tactical advantage, there are 3 other viable options for passive skills. 
--Blood vengeance: increases maximum hatred and refunds 30 hatred and 3 discipline when picking up a health globe.
--Archery: extra hatred regeneration if you're low
--Perfectionist: 10% discipline cost reduction

Reforges: Cooldown reduction and resource cost reduction on items until you feel you can maintain vault and smokescreen permanently. Hatred regeneration on weapons can help here. Otherwise, dexterity and critical hit damage (critical hit chance not required as the arrows from action shot rune on vault are automatically critical hits, and no attack speed required as it does not affect vault)

And there you have it! Other classes to come :)

Partial Written and Visual Guide (no longer updating)

I will most likely not be updating this guide anymore as Pokeytoe's guide is much more complete and goes over a lot of the same stuff. I will be keeping this up as an extra resource but I suggest looking at Pokeytoe's guide first. 
SRC Link 
https://www.speedrun.com/d3_ros/guide/yxrn0 
Direct Link
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OYseWy9qocOxNDNhn25318ulqML7o82PtFU5JdNoebg/edit

Google doc containing written guides and map screenshots: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B9pxsr8gJaWVYTZXRXVnTlBlRGs?usp=sharing

Diablo 3 Speedrun with live commentary: https://youtu.be/V-g610SwVMU 
The video is supposed to be how the run would look for a marathon so I do go over some of the strategies and layouts during the run which may be helpful for newer runners.

If you want to contribute to the guide send imgur or google doc links to me on the discord channel ( https://discord.gg/jBwRZ2P ). In order to keep things neat I will be the only one editing the google documents.

Special Thanks to Scrubcasual for his contributions to the guide.

I plan to do video guides as well in the future but it will be a long time before I make those because I want them to be very well done and there is so much we still don't know about the run for a good video guide series.

Current Content in the Google Doc:

Written Guides
------Map Layout Notes (Work in Progress)
------------Definitions
------------Act 1
------------------Cathedral level 1
------------------Defiled Crypt(s)
------------------Cathedral level 2
------------------Cathedral level 4
------------------Fields of Misery
------------------Halls of Agony level 1
------------------Halls of Agony level 2
------------Act 2
------------------Sewers of Caldeum
------New Runner General Tips
------ScrubCasual's Character Skill Order
------------Monk
------------Barbarian
------------Wizard
------------Demon Hunter

Map Pictures (Work in Progress)
------Act 1
------------Cathedral level 1
------------(Correct) Defiled Crypt
------------Cathedral level 2
------------Cathedral level 4
------------Fields of Misery
------------Caverns of Araneae
------------Halls of Agony level 1
------------Halls of Agony level 2
------------Halls of Agony level 3
------Act 2
------------Sewers of Caldeum
------------Dahlgur Oasis
------------Desolate Sands
------Act 5
------------Paths of the Drowned / Blood Marsh

World Record Runs Splits (Updated when new WR's are set)
------NG Splits (Last Updated 02/18/2018)
------------All Classes WRs (Barb and Necro outdated)
------------All Classes 2nd
------------Barbarian 3rd
------------Monk 3rd
------------Wizard 3rd
------NG Segments (Last Updated 02/18/2018)
------------All Classes WRs (Barb and Necro outdated)
------------All Classes 2nd
------------Barbarian 3rd
------------Monk 3rd
------------Wizard 3rd
------NG+ Splits (Last Updated 02/18/2018)
------------Monk WR
------NG+ Segments (Last Updated 02/18/2018)
------------Monk WR

Misc

Tips and Tricks for Any% (work in progress)

Guide can be found here (work in progress):
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VVZcoOce7spFnhvKGwhxffLNAcV-qSqv4a-p-qFejLE/edit

Name	Author
10 Easy Time Saving Skips for Any%'s	Pukeattack 9 years ago
Boss Rush Strats	Pukeattack 8 years ago
Current Known Soft-locks for PC	Pukeattack 8 years ago
How to start speedrunning Diablo 3	Pokeytoe 6 years ago
Map Guide	Pokeytoe 6 years ago
NG+ Builds	Skytso 3 years ago
NG+ Demon Hunter Setup	ViperD3 8 years ago
Partial Written and Visual Guide (no longer updating)	Garfm 6 years ago
Tips and Tricks for Any% (work in progress)	Pokeytoe 6 years ago