I dont remember there being any in that category before, so good luck!

It should be noted that a lot of what this guide has applies to every other character and not just Paladin, but the build it talks about is ofcourse paladin only :P

Way back when I ran this category I made this guide, and forgot about it. I see some people making attempts at this run and mentioning they enjoy watching them, so I though I'd post my notes on it. It's mostly finished, I was meaning to insert some clips, maybe I'll eventually do that. It's 11 pages, but there's a lot of peculiarities about this run that you need to know. Hope it helps!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DiK-_-cxcxvoR8AGysJHltbnZ5WFMGaT9ygdMZeps50/edit?usp=sharing

Basically this run is more of a "low%" category, with the fewest quest objectives being even activated. If we were to treat the run in this fashion, This means that runs would be obsolete as soon as Jade Figurine dropped, or if Izual appeared on screen extremely briefly, no tower run at all, etc

Tp to Tristram requires you to talk to Akara after getting the scroll btw

Addition to my previous message that is less about speedrunning:

Iron man challenge is meant to be just that: a challenge. Not being able to buy potions makes this run extremely painstaking, and would not be very fun to grind for speedrunning purposes, IMO. Could be fun for races and the like, but I can't see it being a speedrun category

So basically Iron Man challenge lol

A clarification question re: "You can use portals not opened by you" if you find a portal shrine, are you allowed to use it to go back to town? (Probably only purpose of this is to access WP for backtracking)

Also, could you kill Izzy, but not claim the quest until it's necessary to move to act 5? Since you have to talk to Tyreal to go to act 5, you can do both of those at the same time

"Not having the same rune gear" translates to "only runs that drop Tal eth will be worth running" and might not make it very fun to compete

Definitely a possible run category, but will people run it?? That's the main thing

The direction that exits face for most maps has always been known based on the starting tile of that map - tower will always be a left turn, no matter what, for example, and is therefore a bit irrelevant. The real benefit to the right right act 1 map is a fast act 1 layout, knowing which way kurast is, act 4 layout afaik. The only thing that would really benefit is if we could find correlation for arcane that does not lose more time than simply being lucky, most other maps we have a way of telling already, and time loss is simply weird generation ("3 lefts make a right", which as far as the way the maps are generated goes, isn't very predictable at all). Only exceptions to having a tell is catacombs 1 and 3 and worldstone keep 1 and 3 (both level 2 only if you find wp)

If I were to make a categorical suggestion, I would suggest merging runs together, no SC/HC categories, but have a column for distinguishing HC/SC (since that is a thing people in the community care about, for hype reasons probably). Death strats are minimal time save in my opinion, and I don't really think having different categories for the sake of a very small time save makes sense. Both SC/HC being merged can reduce the number of categories to run records for by half, and people can run their preference as they wish while being compared to both "categories". I've seen some runners starting to put SC / HC times on their timers to compare both anyways. And it'll be fun to see how mixed together SC/HC becomes when they are put on the same board, I think

I mean, you have a couple weeks before I can even attempt again (I'm at work D:) so you COULD take it first....

Not before I get it! I was so close, twice!!

I did update the guide to include more energy than dex, mostly during farming points (thanks to Ryu for that tip), but dex is useful for the attack rating as well as block chance once you move on from farming (for the hell boss fights, concentrate having no block animation but can still block, so not getting slapped twice and dead at hell Baal is pretty important especially in HC).

Level 3 - 4 dswing is mostly for the mana consumption especially early game. 2 mana per swing is pretty terrible. Different specs could still work if you don't mind eating the mana cost, like putting points in Bash for the +10% DMG synergy

Edit: also, I wish you luck indrek! Glad the guide was of some use and I wish I could watch your runs haha, at work for the month

Diablo 2: LoD comes with playing a classic character and upgrading a character as features of the game, and I believe any features the game allows can be used for the purposes of speedrunning, as long as characters are brand new and no old characters are assisting the run. Whether or not running a classic character and upgrading it later (probably more applicable to hell runs :P) is actually time saving is a different question, though, and all it takes is someone to show that it does save time. The rules state that timer ends on killing Hell Baal, but doesn't specifically State normal and nightmare Baal, or any act boss for that matter, have to die. They are only required to progress. Classic to expansion conversion removes two acts from a Hell run, so it could be viable. No runewords would suck though, and you would still have to level to 60 to get past hell ancients

I think that finding things that could make the game faster in some way (using things that the game allows you to do normally) could be things worth exploring. Lots of other games utilize certain versions, not newest versions, because of version specific bugs. I highly doubt that patching the game mid-run would result in a faster time, but if there is a way it could work and result in a faster time, why not?

If you have an older version of the game installed/unmodified does it still automatically update to the latest version if you try to log into bnet? I haven't done that in a while and am at work for the next month, but if so that's technically part of the game. If spending those few minutes updating ends up saving more time than it takes, you could argue it's a strategy worth routing.

I've updated the guide a little bit for more readability and reducing some redundancy, as well as a bit of an update to some farming strats. I added a TL;DR version for those already versed in speedrunning, but I really do recommend reading the rest anyways as it has all the little things you can do to improve your run you might not be aware of. I know it's 14 pages but it's a 9 hour long run, not much I can do about that :P

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UaMw-WeHzj23GDYZE-TqKUa7ZQ_5oM7W6GA7j5rg1os/edit?usp=sharing

So I tested this out further and tested a few spots. I think the one at the top is pretty easily replicated! I did a little test session and just uploaded the whole thing, but I did speed up the boring bits (which is funny to watch)

I would definitely like to make this top cheese a part of sin and zon repertoire as they both rely on IAS frames and not being affected by holy freeze would be a huge bonus! Charged strike swapcast is op for this especially

Bokser, I'm interested in testing out that duriel cheese for barb runs, I'll have to do that sometime, and of course it is also very nice for hdin as well

This cheese could probably work for Necro too, as you can certainly aim Bone Spear so it still hits duriel (I test this with Lightning Fury in the video, it hits as long as you don't directly target him)

edit Just putting the process video of this cheese at the top so it's easier to see! old video is no longer relevant

=========

ht tps://yo utu. be/JcEi3 OcLwL 4

I got this cheese accidentally and am wondering if anyone else had this happen / knows a consistent setup, as I'm not aware of it happening before

I got this on Nightmare Duriel, which might matter since he is faster I believe, but also I am faster because of my gear

I was bashed by Duriel while he was in that spot and got knocked back to roughly where I stood, so he basically cheesed himself. What's good about this cheese compared to the other one on the right of the map is Duriel's Holy Freeze doesn't reach us (at least in Normal and nightmare, not sure about Hell) so it would be a much faster cheese to get in a speedrun setting especially for attack speed ranged characters. I haven't recreated it yet so I have no idea whether it's easier than the other cheese, but it exists nonetheless. If you get this cheese and record the process of it, let me know!

it's a WIP teo, hence the forum post XP

I work 28 days straight out at sea on a ship with not much to do when my shift is over :P

I was working on a Hell Barbarian guide while at work that I'd like to have input on by other hell barb runners and people in general on its credibility/readability. I'd like it to be as in depth as possible without being too tl;dr, though there is a lot of things to know in this 9+ hour run, especially if you are new to speedrunning this game (It is not recommended that you pick this run as your first speedrun through this game haha)

The guide is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UaMw-WeHzj23GDYZE-TqKUa7ZQ_5oM7W6GA7j5rg1os/edit?usp=sharing

Please let me know what you think! Input on format, accuracy, other strats or builds, redundancy or things you think I should leave out, etc are all welcome, and do keep in mind that so far these are only things that I know and do. And if you'd like to have suggestion/edit permissions, let me know! Or just talk to me on Discord about it, so that many small comments don't clog the forum

1. You could also use Steel instead of Malice on barb if you dont have ith and eth, and make sure it's the second weapon equipped to give you a faster overall attack speed. Paladin also uses a scepter early game since it deals higher average damage especially to undead, but once you get a few points in Holy Fire, its damage is much better combined with a faster base weapon speed, especially once you start using Zeal

2. I use javs sometimes pre-lvl 6 on Barb, usually just to kill far away Den mobs (hell runs only) and Rakanishu (since he is the early-hardcore-ripper) but I don't go out of my way to get them. Pally can use them in combination with holy fire to deal ranged damage for extra dangerous mobs

3. for normal runs, I generally wouldnt bother wasting the 20-30 seconds or so on an imbue if you have boots already, unless you feel lucky with above suggested imbues. Personal preference. For hell runs, save the imbue for circlets or barb helms (circlets can have fcr and frw on them in addition to +skills, mana, sockets, res, etc, barb helms could spawn +4 war cry, BO, nat res, increased speed, etc in addition to mana, res, sockets, etc). White barb helms with skills already on them will not keep those skills / will be rerolled FYI

4. I used to have problems on my old computer but I got a new pc and it's much better now. This seems to vary system to system and I have not been able to pinpoint exactly why, but there are many things you can try looking into

5. if TalTalTal is your main hand, it swings first, and you know that the enemy your targetting will be poisoned (which deals more damage than the bleed) and you can target monsters easier to spread out the amount of enemies you have poisoned, killing larger groups faster (click on not-green monsters to take advantage of this). The second swing is always a different monster if they are close enough, and you can't guarantee your TalTalTal will hit a non-poisoned monster if it's your off-hand weapon, hitting a monster twice with the same poison source does not stack, it just refreshes the poison