Congrats on the world record! Very nice run indeed. :)

Congrats on the world record! What an awesome run!

Congrats on the WR! I've actually been practicing this level myself as Frodo using the Ring as his power to skip through the first section quickly, so I may have to record a run and see which character works best. I think your one shot kills make a big difference as well as they save a lot of time from having to mash b presses!

Congrats on the WR! Also, very nice job on the improved routing and use of Legolas's abilities to improve the time.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this up and share it with us, the information you have shared is so valuable to both the current community as well as for new players looking to run the game!

I had figured there was a speed cap around the 70% mark just from my own experimentation so it's nice to get some confirmation of its existence. I also knew about the "pirate" prefix and other prefixes to get better items but didn't realize some of them were specific to locations. I'm particularly thrilled to hear about the "Gollum" prefix on bows as I currently haven't had any luck with finding any "River's" or "Snowbird's" bows so my Legolas' bow is currently stuck at 5% speed.

Thanks again for taking the time to share all this information with us - I really appreciate it!

Have you considered running the Helm's Deep bonus map using this ability with Legolas? I ran into so much trouble with enemies blocking my way, I bet you could get a much better time if you tried running it with Legolas!

Congrats on the WR, and what an awesome run! I love how you maximized the character specific abilities to shave off so much time, plus your routing was on point. Also, great find on skipping the cutscene by running past the boss orc when you first get off the corsairs ship!

Hey! I actually discovered that ability after submitting this run. I am currently taking a break from speedrunning due to my tendinitis, though hopefully I'll be able to come back and improve some of my times in the near future.

Congrats on the WR! Definitely some great new routing as well as excellent execution of the run on your end.

This is a great idea - I will get the category names changed to this right away! Thanks!

~Nick

Good morning everyone! Just wanted to let you all know that as of this morning, a new category has been created for NG Any% runs that allows for stat boosting - it can be found under miscellaneous categories. If you have had a run rejected due to the use of stat boosting on the regular NG Any% category, please resubmit it under the new category and I'll be happy to review and hopefully verify it ASAP. Thanks everyone and happy speed running!

Good morning everyone! As of today, the rules have been updated for NG+ Any% and Bonus Map categories to allow for GameShark files to get your character to level 52, 150 attributes, and to find speed items prior to starting your run. As discussed previously, please be fair and don't take advantage of these rules as this would ruin the fun for everyone else and lead to runs requiring additional proof/being rejected if evidence of cheating is discovered. Otherwise, happy speed running and I look forward to seeing any new runs that are submitted under the new category rules!

Hey everyone! Since I have not received any concerns or comments on this issue, I will go ahead and get started on updating this category to add the revised rules I listed in my last post. I will try to get this done as quickly as possible, though we did just end up closing on our house so life got a bit busier than expected this past week. I will get them updated as soon as possible, and look forward to all the new runs that will hopefully be submitted under the new rules!

Hey everyone! Since I have not received any concerns or comments on this issue, I will go ahead and get started on updating this category to add the revised rules I listed in my last post. I will try to get this done as quickly as possible, though we did just end up closing on our house so life got a bit busier than expected this past week. I will get them updated as soon as possible, and look forward to all the new runs that will hopefully be submitted under the new rules!

Hey everyone!

I have had some runs submitted recently that utilize an in-game glitch called stat boosting. The short version of what this glitch is, is that the game forgets to reset your stats when you equip/unequip items, which allows you to max out your stats for that level (though it does reset once you enter the next level). This allows for the player to one-shot very difficult bosses in new game runs, which can allow the player to shave major amounts of time off their run as they don't have to level up to be able to beat the bosses.

Personally, I think this is a very cool glitch that is technically legal since it is in-game. It allows the player to maximize their runs in ways that would not be possible without using it. However, as I have researched how other communities handle glitches like this, the consensus I have found seems to be that these types of glitches should not be allowed in new or full game runs. This is due to them not being in line with how the developers intended the game to be run, as well as preventing the full game experience from being played out. That being said, most other games do allow for category extensions, such as the "Wrong Warp" in Mario 3, where well-known glitches are used to get extremely low times since they can be executed in-game without cheats. As such, I would like to propose the following:

1. I recommend that we create a category extension that allows for stat boosting in each of the new game characters. This will both preserve the integrity of the New Game category while also recognizing the hard work of community members who have optimized runs using this glitch, and will allow for some very cool runs to be verified in this community.

2. Once the category extensions have been created, any currently pending runs that use stat boosting and have been submitted to the New Game category will be rejected, while the player will be encouraged to resubmit the run under the new correct category. This is not meant to exclude anyone, but rather to ensure we keep New Game runs vs Stat Boosting runs in separate categories. So please do not feel bad if your run gets rejected as we would love for you to resubmit under the correct category!

If anyone has any thoughts/concerns, please feel free to let me know and I'm happy to address them. Please also feel free to comment here if you agree with this proposition. I will give the community about a week to post any thoughts/concerns and, as long as the community agrees, I will look at this next weekend (4/15/24 at the very latest) to have the new categories created, pending runs addressed, and messages sent to players encouraging them to resubmit their runs under the new correct category.

Thanks!

~Nick

Hello! I just wanted to follow up on this. I have been testing the game on my GameBoy and noticed that I can unequip several items and still get the same/comparable times on some of my bonus map runs. This leads me to believe there is a speed cap in the game, somewhere around the 50% mark. If this is the case, it should mean that the game can only be optimized so far, which makes the issue of GameShark use a little less worrisome. As such, here are my thoughts on the issue:

1. In my opinion, it does not matter how one gets to level 52, 150 attributes, or how they come by the items they are using. For example, someone can ask a GameBoy user to prove they didn't purchase their copy of the game already maxed out and there'd be no way they could prove they didn't unless they documented themselves leveling up all along. As long as no items/abilities are used that cannot be found in-game and no codes or cheats are run during the game itself that would improve RNG or other capped stats, I cannot see how it's relevant how one gets their character fully optimized prior to the run.

2. I do want to be respectful of Speedrun.com as a whole, and it does seem the majority of communities are in agreement that GameShark should not be used. As such, I don't think we can officially endorse GameShark and recommend runners use it. I also want to be respectful of the community, and it seems like the use of emulators like GameShark, at least with some caveats put in place, will open up access to the game to where new players can start running it, as well as players with time restrictions who cannot put months or years into the grind just to be able to start doing runs. As such, I propose we remove the ban on GameShark as a whole and instead make a rule in the New Game + category that no GameShark codes or cheats can be used during the run itself, and that any items used must be able to be found in-game and must match their abilities to the prefixes/suffixes they're associated with.

3. I do think it's fair to state that if runners submit a run that is suspicious or that cannot be matched once the speed cap is controlled for (ex. Perfect RNG, all one-shot kills including bosses, consistently running faster than should be possible with the speed cap), the run will be met with more scrutiny and the runner may be required to provide additional proof and verification of how they got the time that they did. In this situation, GameShark will always be met with more scrutiny due to its ability to use cheat codes than other systems such as running on Console or other emulators that cannot use cheat codes. This caveat is not directed towards any current community members, but I do feel it is important to state as, if we do get new community members submitting runs due to the new category rules, I want to make sure they are aware of the risks associated with GameShark runs as well as the benefits.

Hopefully this clarification helps! If any community members have any thoughts/concerns regarding this proposition please let me know and we can discuss it further. Please also feel free to reply and let me know if you agree with this approach. I will give the community about a week to respond and, as long as no one has any concerns regarding this, I will commit to next weekend (4/15/24 at the very latest) to have the new category rules created so that community members can start running the game again. Thanks everyone!

~Nick

Hey!

Thanks for making this post as these are some excellent questions. While we are discussing and reviewing the use of GameShark itself, I did want to share a few thoughts on the issue of playing this game via GameBoy/regular emulation vs optimizing characters via tools such as GameShark or other similar programs.

As someone who has been playing this game on GameBoy for about 20 years now, I know just how discouraging the grind can be. It has taken me about a year to get all six playable characters to level 52, and even then they are still not fully optimized. I have found that, on average, I max out about 3/5 of my attributes to 150 upon reaching level 52 while the other two are extremely low (about 75 each). The only way to max out attributes is to either kill 500 enemies (which gives you two) or to purchase attributes at shrines, which cost in the range of 10-15k gems at that point (so basically an entire night of grinding just to get a single attribute point). Even then, you still can't guarantee that your players are fully optimized as it is completely random when (or if) you will get good speed items - for example, I have been grinding Legolas for months now and still have not seen a bow with the prefix "River's" or "Snowbird's," meaning I am stuck at 5% speed from my bow instead of 10% (which is enough of a difference to shave a few seconds off of a WR). I know it is theoretically possible to find this, yet the game has decided not to be merciful in this regard and I have no idea if or when it ever will be. The end result of this is that I feel that I have spent over a year simply grinding just to be able to submit runs, and that this has prevented me from being able to focus on things that are actually important for speedruns such as routing, practicing muscle memory, or even having time to record runs to where I could get good RNG and a subsequent low time.

While I understand reservations towards using GameShark itself and would say that, if it is allowed, we would need some safeguards set in place to ensure the integrity of runs, my personal opinion is that character optimization of some sort should be allowed for new game + and bonus map runs. I feel that requiring such an inimical grind ends up gatekeeping new players or players like myself with major time restrictions from either starting the game or being able to play it. Further, the enormous requirements of the game don't even guarantee that you will be able to optimize runs as the odds of finding optimized speed items are stacked against you - imagine if a Super Mario World runner had to spend hundreds of hours grinding just to hope to get a cape so they could speedrun the game, yet this is what we have to do to hope to even begin to be able to run this game. Finally, I feel like the grind takes away from focusing on actually practicing and running the game itself, which is not consistent with the spirit of speedrunning.

Thanks again for this post as well as the excellent questions it asks and points it brings up! As I said earlier, we will hopefully have an answer soon regarding GameShark files themselves. In the meantime, I did want to share my opinion as well, as someone who has gone through the grind, that optimization of some sort should be allowed, so that we can focus on the more important aspects of running the game instead of an arguably unfair and inimical grind.

~Nick

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Skills:

We have now hit the point of character-specific skills that can increase speed. Some skills directly increase speed while others increase it indirectly. Here are some of the strategies I have found for each character that can help with maximizing speed:

-Eowyn: "Nimble" can increase dodge by 20% when maxed out; "Fleet of Foot" increases speed by 25%; and "Wraithslayer" can increase damage to Ringwraiths by 20% which helps on the bonus map "Amon Sul" as well as the final Witch King battle. While "Rohan Sprint" can be helpful in new game runs, I have found that the constant stops for A press animation tend to cost more time than simply using items and "soft abilities" such as "Fleet of Foot" and as such I do not recommend using it for runs.

-Aragorn: Unfortunately, Aragorn does not have any hard or soft skills that directly influence speed. "Arrow Parry" can help reduce hits or knockbacks from arrows. I am still experimenting with hard skills that can be used to remove clusters of enemies in narrow passages or to break through the shields to get to the Mouth of Sauron at the Black Gate and will update this guide as I found out more info.

-Gandalf: Unfortunately, Gandalf also does not have any skills that directly influence speed. However, his "Lightstrike" is critical for killing both Saruman and the final Ringwraith boss in 1-2 hits.

-Frodo: "Nimble" increases dodge by 20% when maxed out. I have not experimented much with using "The One Ring" yet but feel like this ability could be used to slip past high traffic areas such as Shelob's Lair that otherwise lose a lot of time due to enemies clogging up narrow passages.

-Legolas: "Fleet of Foot" increases speed by 25%, while "Arrow Parry" can increase projectile dodge by 30%. I also have not experimented much with hard skills that can be used to clear high traffic areas/shields to get to the Mouth of Sauron at the Black Gate, but will update this guide if I do find anything.

-Gimli: "Earthshatter" is a super helpful skill for clearing high traffic areas as it has a knockback/high kill rate for enemies - this is especially critical to knock back the shields and kill the Mouth of Sauron in a few hits at the final Black Gate stage.

Routing:

Obviously, it is very important to make sure your routing is optimized for runs as well. Though I have optimized quite a few stages and would view my runs as a good starting place, I would also encourage other runners to re-evaluate routing and see if they can come up with faster routes as I cannot guarantee that there are not faster or more efficient routes than what I have found so far. There are quite a few levels that have multiple paths one can take, and I have found that good versus poor routing can shave off a good 15-30 seconds on a single stage!

Glitches:

I have not found a ton of glitches so far that can be used in-game to maximize speed; however, this does not mean they do not exist, just that we haven't found them yet! A good example would be Eowyn's Oliphant boss fight - the second wave asks you to kill two Oliphants, yet, if you skip the first boss and only kill the second, the game thinks you have beaten the stage and lets you exit without killing the first. Another good example would be the second stage of the Helm's Deep bonus map - if your speed has been increased fast enough, you can run down the stairs and skip the dialogue where Aragorn states the wall has been breached, which is a major time save. A final glitch I use is to skip past NPC dialogue to avoid unnecessary A presses such as the old lady by the health well in Rohan, Elrond talking about items/forges in the White Mountains, and the Rohan villager talking about horses in Eowyn's first level.

Conclusion:

This is all the strategies I have found so far for maximizing speed in the new game + and bonus map categories. Though this list is not comprehensive and we are still working on identifying new strategies for maximizing speed, I hope this is at least informative and helpful for new runners wanting to start running the game as well as for veteran runners who are looking for ways to further maximize speed in their runs as well. If anyone has any further strategies to share please feel free to add them here in a comment, as I would love to see the community help each other find new ways to get these runs closer and closer to being fully optimized!

~Nick

Hey everyone!

I wanted to make an updated list of strategies that can be used to maximize speed for new game + runs as well as the bonus maps. Hopefully this helps assist new runners with getting started as well as helps veteran runners identify new strategies for maximizing speed as well:

Items:

The single most important way to increase speed is via the use of items as these are universal across all characters and directly increase speed/can reduce run times by literal minutes. Here are some of the items to watch for while grinding/optimizing your character:

-The most important speed item is wrappings, which can add up to 15% speed to your character. Prefixes that can produce maximum speed on wrappings include "horseman's," "boatman's," and "worn," while suffixes include "of Umbar" and "of Osgiliath"

-"Snowbird's" and "River's" prefixes can increase speed by 10% for weapons

-"of Umbar" suffixes can increase speed by 10% for certain items such as shields

-The suffix "of the Eldar" increases speed by 7% for certain items

-Prefixes such as "green copper," "worn," and "boatman's" can increase speed by 5%

-Suffixes such as "of Osgiliath," "of Rangers," "of the Fox," "of the Hound," "of the Eorlings," "of Dimholt," and "of the Sky" increase the speed of items by 5%

-The blue item "Blue Chainmail of Zephyrmaster" increases speed by 5%

Attributes:

The next most important strategy for maximizing speed is attributes as these are also universal across all characters. I would recommend prioritizing them as follows:

-Accuracy: This can increase the odds of landing a hit by 150% - This can be the difference between standing around mashing B presses and killing enemies with a single hit, which is critical for boss fights or any other times you must engage with an enemy to progress to the next stage.

-Defense: This is equally important as it can decrease the odds of enemies landing a hit by 150% - this allows you to slip past enemies without hits or knockbacks.

-Strength: Though not as important as accuracy for landing hits, increasing strength will allow you to kill high point level villains like Ringwraiths, cave trolls, or bosses with minimal B presses.

-Health: Not super important as long as you have increased defense; however, it is a good idea to at least grind your health high enough that you don't accidentally die from stray hits or high damage bosses.

-Courage: Also not super important unless your character requires a skill (ex. Gandalf's "Lightstrike" to kill the final Ringwraith boss) to progress through a stage.

Runes:

The next most important strategy to maximize speed is runes as these are also universal - though none directly increase speed, I would recommend equipping "Elf Rune II - Nimblefoot" on your weapon and shield/staff as this can increase dodge by 10-20% and decrease the odds of enemies landing blows or knockbacks.

(continued - 1/2)

Hey everyone!

Quick update -

My family has moved, so we are still busy though not quite as bad as things were these past few months. A few updates on my end -

1. I purchased a second cartridge of ROTK and have been grinding Legolas and Gimli. I have found all speed items for Legolas and only need a shirt and hat for Gimli. I am also grinding Gollum just for fun though obviously I'm not putting too much effort into him lol. My two main characters are in their mid 20s so maybe a couple months before I'm ready to run them(?).

2. I was able to find and purchase a GameBoy Player deck with the disc included at my local toys and game store, which is super rare to find! I also got myself a GameCube there as well, so I am able to do the runs myself now instead of having to borrow equipment from family. Hopefully this will lead to me submitting runs more frequently since I don't have to rely on others to help record them!

3. I finally figured out how to use OBS and LiveSplits, as well as using my phone and webcam for recording, so my runs should have splits and times now on them as well! I will be re-running my old runs so hopefully they'll look a little better, and will also be working on learning Frodo and Gandalf so I can run them soon as well.

Thanks to everyone for your support, and hopefully we can get all the categories run here in the near future!

~Nick