This is a method of duplication similar to the previous

(currently December 31, 2021, version v.58753)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12qiX6sHKJAa7osjips5PxRR-q7z1Q6mSvxb0YUjecKs/edit?usp=sharing

This route should have the QoL Patch category under 7 hours, and the Beat the Game category under 8.

All credit to the OOB goes to AndyPerfect who discovered it.

I've spent the last two weeks discovering new glitches, skips, tech, and strategies with Andy's help.

Some fun things the run does now : Ultimate Weapons at Level 2. Skip all encounters. Two extremely difficult door skips that now have consistent setups. An efficient grind spot. Skip whole chapters and key item pickups. Skip the entire final dungeon, do the final boss with the wrong team.

The notes are still a WIP and I'll continue to revise them as time goes on.

Here is the google document with the route notes

Here are some videos I've recorded of the different skips and setups for tricks. Most are included in the notes at the corresponding sections as well.

Ultimate Weapons Early

Wind City Door Skip

Marduk Door Skip

Final Boss Fight with Grubb, Runner, and Badu

Utilizing bits and pieces from multiple fan patches and making them compatible with each other I have put together a huge QoL patch for Septerra Core.

No adjustments to difficulty, balance, etc... Simply a better game to stream and play.

Crashes when loading certain files are fixed, movement speed is defaulted to run with shift to walk, the game launches in an adjustable windowed mode, and combat no longer involves waiting forever.

This patch now works on both versions of the game! make sure to download the correct file for whatever launcher you plan to use

To download the GOG patch file please click this text here

To download the STEAM patch file please click this text here

Open the installguide.txt I've provided in each patch folder to install the patch and learn how to properly adjust the window sizing without distorting the image.

• MOVIES ARE NOT CURRENTLY WORKING. I AM WORKING ON A FIX. IF YOU WANT TO WATCH MOVIES AND PLAY CASUALLY, AVOID THIS PATCH

This is NOT the fan patch that is provided with GOG and will not work with that unofficial patch. The game is NOT provided so you will need to purchase it on Steam or GOG first.

The current WR run was done on the unofficial version of the game and this QoL patch does not have a speedrun category. Keep in mind it will not be submitted to the same leaderboard category. I plan to run a QoL specific category and I will communicate with the mod if enough interest develops to add a category for it

Here is a Youtube video featuring the patch and showcasing some of the changes :

I'll do an overhaul of the categories and such to accommodate the requests, restrictions, DLC, and different versions of the game.

This will mean that runs will have to be more closely scrutinized in verification aspects. Obviously, things have to be watched more closely to ensure that correct runs are submitted to their correct categories and what have you. That being said, I won't be able to accept runs that are potential top three times without video moving forward.

I'm very happy to have interest in the game and I don't want to stifle anyone's desire to run it! However, it is hard to verify what is done in a single segment and what is done in a bunch of smaller segments and the two should not be compared to one another.

Due to the game's length I'd be happy to add a single segment as well as a segmented category for each of the runs also!

I'm working closely with the people translating the switch version into English. I hope to structure that out and publish it along with instructions for anyone who's interested to download and install that patch onto their switch. I will keep you posted on that and I hope that that will bring a lot more interest to the game and community.

Luke was kind enough to make me the supermod so I can organize things moving forward.

I have a lot of testing I want to do but because Birdman's run is no longer available it will require a good deal of work. The only info I have is that, supposedly, his time save came from the use of 2 clerics.

Second, the casino is absolutely easily manipulated. If you spent 20 minutes grinding the casino immediately after the first dungeon, you could net $14500 coins between poor/rich bingo in Shagami. If you only wanted the weapon, you could spend half that time doing it. It takes about 5 minutes to get to Shagami and 3 to return. All in all a 17 minute investment to have the best purchasable weapon or armor in the game and 30 minutes to have both. Does it eventually save time in the run? Yet to be determined but I will be testing it.

I'm currently putting notes/guide together for the run and hope to lower the time below 3:30.

I'll be updating stuff as I go to try and get this community more involved and organized.

Apparently the Western version of the game has immense difficulty compared to the Japanese release and fans made a patch that solves that? Before I commit to learning, I just wanted to make sure that wasn't the version being run or anything.

Second, I was curious if multiple routes/categories would be possible utilizing the different main characters? I see the run is done with Lux but if testing hadn't been done for others I'd love to contribute.

Lately, are there any notes for the run? If there are glitches or anything that I might not understand just from watching the vods I felt it'd be wise of me to ask.

Thanks!

So far we know little about all of the changes that have been made in the new releases of the game. However, as it currently stands, a few big differences are obvious.

1. The duplication glitch. The new versions of the game (including the switch port) have all had the duplication glitch patched. This makes the run exponentially more difficult and more RNG dependent.

2. Frame rate and load times. It goes without saying that the 60fps frame rate boasted by the PC and PS4 makes things a bit faster. Load times are dramatically reduced and menu lag is non-existent.

3. The text effect glitches are still intact. Familiar retreat glitch, jump menu buffering, levitate skipping, and gateway skipping are all still viable afaik. This is significant.

So far, in my opinion at first glance, the PS3 remains king for the fastest way to beat Ni No Kuni. The duplication glitch makes the run significantly faster due to large amounts of disposable money and restoratives. This gives us the ability to craft chocolates for Royal Jelly, buy upgraded weapons and armor for familiars to speed up fights, and obviously removes the RNG time loss risk of the casino.

I am currently in the process of refining a casino centric route for the remastered versions of the game. Even if a solid route is put together I have a very hard time seeing the new versions being faster than the PS3. Even with load time improvement the loss of our center point glitch is very impactful.

Current consoles from fastest to slowest are : PS3, PC, PS4, Switch.

I will make changes if anything comes up.

I don't casual games before I play them so I plan on making blind/beginner friendly notes for the run. I'll post them to the guides when I'm done.

First, though, I was curious if anyone had any notes for the run already. They don't have to be super detailed or anything, just could save some time trying to understand tech or mechanics that might otherwise be kind of hard to understand simply by watching.

Second, I have the original cart as well as a flashcart with the 2.0 fan translation on it. Is there a noticeable difference in text amount and timesave? I assume japanese is faster but it's always nicer when you can play in english, lol.

Lastly, are there any rules against specific emulators? I use BSNES via Bizhawk for learning/practicing so I can use save states. I see that emu is allowed but wasn't sure if there was one that is more accurate or agreed upon in the community.

Thanks for your time!

A few things I've noticed and adjusted for myself I felt like would be beneficial to share on the off chance someone is as inexperienced as myself with the game.

1. The bird section at the beginning lasts 60 seconds exactly regardless of if you do anything.

2. The chocobo knight chase : The enemies that join the fight after an enemy has been throwing are waiting in a sort of queue, waiting to have a spot to fill. So, by not throwing any guards and keeping the max amount (4) on the screen at all times, you can prevent archers and cannons from ever joining the fight. Only shake the controller when a knight reaches you to defeat them and you'll take no damage. Obviously, toss the archers that show up. Ideally, you'll see two archers and no cannons and take 0 damage super consistently.

3. Blaze fight : Blaze only gets stunned when he's thrown far enough to get his aerial shot off. If he bonks an object before that projectile comes out, he will take no damage and wall hop. Super frustrating until I was able to understand LOL.

4. Instead of running from Grassland to the shuttle you can warp and then teleport to the shuttle significantly faster. The shuttle is the default option so you can mash A when arriving at the warp pool and not select the location from the list. (On the way to the dance, on the way to the palace for end game are where this saves time over current route)

5. The rooftops of the garden are not faster than rolling. You lose time jumping.

6. The Pearl, Gold Ring, and Gold Earrings cost 1096G in total. As long as you are at 775G+ by the time you reach the chest (before the hood section, right after red leaf) you'll have enough. I try to keep track of this because it's exceptionally common for 'Limit Express' to make passengers on the train run into you and lose you money.

Also, this is my new winery fight strat. If you always start by holding down, Keiss will fall downstairs. You get this super fast pattern if he falls down right away.

This is my escape sequence. It saves 9~ seconds if you don't get hit. Less, obviously, if you do.

Curious, since it seems like no one has done a PS4 or PC run.

Wasn't sure if this was lack of interest if they're just drastically slower for some reason.

Also, is Japanese considerably faster than English on PS3?

https://www.reddit.com/r/speedrun/comments/9wavy5/thousand_arms_for_the_ps1_still_has_multiple_200/?utm_source=reddit-android

#Higgledy Need-to-knows!

• You will have up to 4 Higgledies equipped at any given time. Based on which four are currently equipped, they suffer or benefit from a compatibility bonus that I'm not 100% sure on as of yet.

• Higgledies are obtained by 'cooking them up' in the Higglery. The Higglery is one of your Town Building establishments. Various Higgledies require certain crafting materials to be created and leveled up.

• Higgledies are leveled up by using crafting items. There are no specific items required. Instead, they work like the familiar treat system in the first game. Each Higgledy likes a certain type of item. Giving them any item will yield exp. However, giving them their preferred item (milk for those that like dairy products, etc) yields larger exp gains as a result.

• All Higgledy leaders have an attack and defense stat. These increase with level.

• All Higgledies have 4 traits that come with them. Two are white (basic) traits. Two are green (special) traits. Special traits are used when your controlled character is in 'Awakened' mode.

• At Level 1, each Higgledy leader will have 3 followers. Every level increases the amount of followers by 1.

• All Higgledies have an element listed, except for Non-Elemental types. Wind, light, dark, etc. These elemental affinities make a difference in a few aspects - usually tied to traits.

• All Higgledies have a personality type. Shy, Outgoing, Careful, Cowardly, etc. I'm not entirely sure how these effect overall compatibility but they definitely play a factor. I will list them beneath the Higgledy's name.

#Known Higgledy basic traits These are the top 2 abilities listed out of the 4, written in white :

Scrap, Scrap!

• Imparts a slight boost to the power of regular attacks.

Same, Same!

• Will occasionally create more higgledies when attacked with their own element.

Tick, Tock!

• The number of higgledy troops will automatically increase in battle.

There, There!

• Restores a small amount of HP to an ally.

Wimpy, Wimpy!

• Slightly decreases an enemy's physical attack for a short period of time.

Hunker, Hunker!

• Slightly increases an ally's physical defense for a short period of time.

Better, Better!

• Cures an ally's status ailments.

Bang, Bang!

• Makes higgledies more explosive when absorbed into their human commander.

#Known Higgledy special traits These are the bottom 2 abilities listed, written in green :

Higgledy Boom

• A cannon is brought onto the battlefield and used to blast the enemy.

Higgledy Heal

• The HP of all allies is gradually restored over a short period.

Higgledy Fan

• Temporarily creates an energy field that boost resistance to wind attacks.

Higgledy Plunge

• Gravity is temporarily turned up to max, bringing enemies crashing down.

Sonic Tonic!

• Boosts the chance of the player emitting shockwaves when awakened.

Gust Buster!

• Makes the player more resistant to wind-element attacks when awakened.

Hard Guard!

• Slightly boosts the defense of the player when awakened.

Night Smiter!

• Makes the player more resistant to dark-element attacks when awakened.

Higgledy Glow

• Temporarily creates a field that boosts resistance to light-element attacks.

Light Smiter!

• Makes the player more resistant to light-element attacks when awakened.

Sicker Quicker!

• Boosts the chance of the player inflicting status ailments when awakened.

#Higgledy Leaders

Runcible the Righteous - Non Elemental Shy

• Scrap, Scrap!
• There, There!
• Higgledy Boom
• Sonic Tonic!

Wiff-Waff the Wafty - Wind Shy

• Scrap, Scrap!
• Wimpy, Wimpy!
• Higgledy Heal
• Gust Buster!

Filigree the Flighty - Wind Cowardly

• Same, Same!
• Hunker, Hunker!
• Higgledy Fan
• Hard Guard!

Tove the Tenebrous - Dark Outgoing

• Tick, Tock!
• Wimpy, Wimpy!
• Higgledy Plunge
• Night Smiter!

Bink the Blinky - Light Careful

• Same, Same!
• Better, Better!
• Higgledy Glow
• Light Smiter!

Clangle the Spangly - Light Cowardly

• Bang, Bang!
• There, There!
• Higgledy Glow
• Sicker Quicker!

Fidget the Festive - Non-Elemental Outgoing

• Do it, Do it!
• Flimsy, Flimsy!
• Higgledy Heart
• Hard Guard!

Knoll the Coal-Fired - Fire Careful

• Bang, Bang!
• Hocus, Pocus!
• Higgledy Heat
• Crit Hit!

Tulgey the Dingy - Dark Shy

• Stay, Stay!
• Nocus, Pocus!
• Higgledy Gloom
• Night Smiter!

Tumtum the Terrible - Dark Shy

• Me Too, Me Too!
• Better, Better!
• Higgledy Clipse
• Sicker Quicker!

Scroobious the Rash - Fire Cowardly

• Same, Same!
• There, There!
• Higgledy Singe
• Sonic Tonic!

Tureen the Torrential - Water Careful

• More, More, More!
• There, There!
• Higgledy Splosh
• Hard Guard!

Shillyshallly the Shy - Water Cowardly

• Higgle, Piggle!
• Silly, Silly!
• Higgledy Buff
• Sonic Tonic!

Flapwaggle the Feathery - Wind Outgoing

• Me Too, Me Too!
• Flimsy, Flimsy!
• Higgledy Whoosh
• Fight Right!

Twiggy the Twisty - Wind Shy

• Ball, Ball!
• There, There!
• Higgledy Buff
• Sonic Tonic!

Here is the thread where we can begin to toss ideas around. I am starting this before the game comes out as I have a few curiosities.

However, as we play the game, we can add to the thread and help route this game out as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Any runners have experience with something like this?

Elgato Game Capture HD. Run many games on it without this issue ever. I'll try swapping some stuff around but was curious if it was a common situation.

I have the hard copy but I seem to have lost it. Judging by a lot of the other PS3 games for speedrunning, the digital download should be faster anyways.

Right?

Since it runs purely from HDD instead of CD into HDD it should be the faster version of the two. Regardless, hope I can get a run knocked out in the upcoming weeks.

This is an alternative strat that can be used for UB2-3.

UB2 sometimes gives me a lot of trouble and I've cut revives from my run so I prefer the safety.

If UB2 gets bad RNG from Liberate and doesn't die, he will jump to center stage and should take one more enter2 to kill. In this case, it adds about 5 seconds to the clip you see here.

It's fastest by a couple of seconds to do UB3 how I did it here. Hasting and gunning him down to death takes a tiny bit longer, believe it or not. Also, since you only need about 12-15 shots (depending on crits) you can use the time you wait for PE charge to heal WITH MEDICINE.

(This video is 2minutes 45 seconds from start of UB2 to end of UB3. Primus video is the best video I had to base current strat off and was a 2minutes 53 from start of UB2-UB3. He conceded a few heals for security so can easily call it even)

All in all, saves some stress and about breaks even with a flawless normal strat UB2-3.

All points in active until 31 (you reach this after using BP gained from Centipede) and then the rest in attack would net you the highest DPS by a decent margin.

This would take you into the last day of the game at 40 active BP and 65 dmg Micro UZ which is the highest yield of dps in the game, mathematically.

Not to mention it alleviates the burden of no QD on M10 if you get that weapon and continue the run (it's about the same). If you do get the M10, it yields higher DPS to dump ALL points into active BP and switch to the M8000 after receiving it. (Do not put RoF x2 or x3 on the M8000)

All tests done with Micro UZ (6 second base ATB charge)

With RoF calculated in already (Micro Uz) : Mixed route (65 dmg, 40 haste) = [58 / 3.2 = 18.13 dps] Full attack BP (75 attack, 30 haste) = [63 / 3.6 = 17.5 dps] Full active route (55 attack, 50 haste) = [53 / 3 = 17.66 dps]

As you can see, the full attack route is slowest by a bit and haste route is only marginally better. This is for each bullet. Calculate in x2 and 2x command and there's a large disparity between each turn.

The reason for this is that haste has diminishing returns. It gives less % time off of each hit with every additional active point. This makes it trivial to take past 40 as it only gives .25 per 10 additional points as opposed to the previous 10 points giving a whole .5 off.

Active time works like this : 10 = 1 second off 20 = .8 second 30 = .6 40 = .4 50 = .2

So by getting to 40 you save 2.8 seconds in total. Going to 50 you gain only 3.0 seconds in total. Those 10 points spent in attack give you 10 flat damage on hit (before x2/x3 or resistances like armadillos) and adds 5 to your crit multiplier WHICH SCALES.

Crits work off a very odd sequence of increase in attack. Damage works like this (single shot, no armor reduction, etc) :

10 dmg : 7 crit10 (3) 11 : 8 crit12 (4) 12 : 9 crit13 (4) 13 : 10 crit15 (5) 14 : 11 crit16 (5) 15 : 12 crit18 (6) 16 : 13 crit19 (6) 17 : 14 crit21 (7) 18 : 15 crit22 (7) 19 : 16 crit24 (8) 20 : 17 crit25 (8)

So, you can see that the more attack points only get MORE valuable as you spend them.

Thus, getting the most ATB charge % time off PER BP point takes you to 40, and getting an increase in damage (huge increase to crit for every 2 points) gets you extreme efficiency in place of the fall off.

Not to mention it conserves ammo as opposed to haste route, makes for a more efficient day5 and 6 since you don't use your BP until after each boss fight, and will do the overall most DPS.

TL;DR Spend BP on active time until you reach 31 points total. This is achieved, on average, after putting the 2 BP from Centipede into the active time. Afterwards, spend all remaining BP on attack. This is, mathematically, the most DPS you will have possible at your disposal.