So I've done 4 full game new account runs. 1 for practice, and 3 in full.

Times: 1st full run: ~14,5 hours. Died on Taro 2nd full run: ~9,75 hours. Died on Taro 3rd full run: 14:57:26

From doing this a couple of times I found out some strategies and ways to approach the run. I'd say with what I know now a sub 9 hour time is definitely possible, but I don't get many opportunities to do a run of that length. So for anyone wanting to tackle this category, Here are some things I've learned.

Weapons & Armor Okay, so first of. you absolutely NEED to use the Iron in this run. The reason for this is because it's strong enough to carry you till the end of the game, the R&D is easy and you can get it early on. The iron blueprint can be found in the later D.O.D. floors. I know for a fact you can find it on floors 6,7,8 and 9F. I've heard people say 5F too but I haven't been able to confirm this. You can also get it as a shop spawn for 30 000 kill coins. But only on the second shop. Not on 3F Omoki. Make this your absolute top priority as soon as you start your run because this can make the difference between a 10-hour and 15-hour run.

As for gear, for body and legs, you'd want to use battle trucker. If you can't find this then DIY set is also fine. For gear, I'm not entirely sure yet in which part of D.O.D. these drop. As a headpiece, you wanna get captains barret. If you can't find this then use dark rhyback helmet as an alternative. Or the Silent Sniper helmet from a charger in the 20s but I'd advise getting a helmet before this point.

Also, make sure you have at least your body or legs, but preferably body to tier 3 by the time you reach Taro. Or he will one-shot you. I learned this the hard way.

Quests Quest are crucial. always make sure you are working on a quest along of your main goal. There's a lot of easy quests you can do for death metals which will help for reviving or skipping later R&D stages.

There's also material quests. I can't really remember a lot of them from the top of my head but a few good ones are getting 20 assault rifle kills for a D.O.D. green metal and there was also a quest for killing 20 screamers in 19F Chitoso-mei for a D.O.D. green metal. This is perfect as 19F is also a floor on which D.O.D. green metal can spawn from a trap room chest. You will need as many D.O.D. greens for your armor as possible. For your first D.O.D. red you should do the quest for killing 10 enemies with a hockey stick (i believe this quest unlocks once you reach 32F but might be 33 or 34F). Hockey stick can be found in the same later floors as the iron blueprint. Although if you are able I'd play on a shop day to get D.O.D. red early. See the rotation section further down for more on this.

Other then that keep your eyes open for golden animal rewarding quest as these can help you level up new fighters faster. And give you some powerful shrooms along the way. Always kill the animals and don't eat them to make sure you get their shroom.

Fighters I don't have much to say here but if you are confident in your skills you should consider either pushing with your grade 3 fighter to 35F where grade 5 fighters unlock or with your grade 2 fighter to 25F where grade 4 fighters unlock. This can save you a lot of money and time spent on leveling.

Rotation Now the rotation is also important. I'd advise playing on a shop day. Which are on Wensday, Friday and Sunday so you can get a D.O.D red early instead of doing the hockey quest. But if you are unable to play on these days, what day you pick shouldn't really matter.

Some final tips Don't be afraid to spend some time doing a few death metal quests. Yes it makes your run longer but if you die in the 30s you won't have the option to do a killcoin salvage as it's not possible to have your bank upgraded to a far enough stage where you can hold the amount needed to do a salvage. Of course you can spend death metals on salvage but this costs you 3 death metals which is a costly sum.

Like i stated before. You gotta make sure to have at least your body or legs to tier 3 so Taro won't one-shot you. Don't hesitate spending a death metal or 2 on speeding up R&D instead of doing meaningless chores while you wait for the timer.

Hope all of this helps. Good luck runners!