Speedrunning the Series

[Vroqren]

Hello everyone! Long time no see! Hope you're all doing well.

A post from a few years back has kind of stayed in my mind for a long time - I've been really curious about the idea of speedrunning all three games. Getting a new (actually, quite old) gaming PC up and running was the perfect excuse to try it out. Also, huge shoutout to Basilisk Wrangler - you've created something timeless. I was really just the right age when I first played Books I and II for this game to always be a staple in my identity as a gamer.

I completed Book I in 6.2 hours (ouch, did not come close to the 1 hour mark)
I completed Book II in 3.9 hours (maybe a record? As far as I know nobody has ever recorded a speedrun for this)
I completed Book III in 4.1 hours (same thought as Book II)

I had a really great time playing through the games again, and even convinced my brother who originally introduced me to the series to give some speedruns a try - maybe some of you can compete too!

My build in each of the three games was an elemental wizard - get the INT I need to understand the highest level spell, and then nothing but Perception for the rest of the game. Likewise, get the Elemental level to cast tier 3 spells at sixth level, and then nothing but meditation for the rest of the game. I had a blast regenerating 5 mana per turn and just kiting melee guys for 10 turns until I could cast Ice Lance again. Had a ton of fun with the character.
My brother is trying out one of my favorite builds I ever played - the biggest Chad of all, an unarmed combat expert with enough health that a falling portcullis can't kill me (Genuinely my favorite build in this game yet). HP regen is more limited than mana regen though so he's battling that a little bit. I'm curious what other builds you guys would try for speedruns.

I also wanna talk strategy for each game:
For Book I I think I made a pretty serious mistake going for the Crux. I'm not positive if you can kill Gramuk and get Destroyer's Ending without the Crux, but it so I think that's got to be way faster than going through the crypt and getting the crux.
It seems to me that the optimized strategy is something along the lines of:
Rush to Grimhold, get the first goblin key. Then head to Vela and get the second. Stop in blackwater to buy an ectoplasm and a mercury, then head to Shadowmirk to get the third key, and finally teleport from Bordertown to Crakamir. From there steal the Giant's key and rush the Goblin Citadel. If I do another speedrun this will be my plan.

For Book II I was really proud of my strategy, with only one notable mistake - I forgot that I needed a citizen's writ to get through Raven's Gate. I also had to kill time for a week for shops to reset because I could not for the life of me get a scroll of Lock Melt. Other than that I think my plan was pretty solid.
Rush straight to Raven's Gate, unlock the quick travel. Then go to Port Kuudad, killing guards to let yourself in. Steal some poor sop's citizen's writ, and head straight into Hammerlorne. Once you've got the Crux go find and talk to Koren. You can go straight from that conversation to Talushorn. And I did.

Book III is the game I've completed the fewest times, so I definitely felt the most lost on this playthrough. What I ended up doing was basically the path through the game without shortcuts: Find Lilith, go to Old Moonrise, go commit frog genocide, then gather the widgets, go through Omentor, and straight to Alundar. I think it could be shortened a fair bit, though I'm not 100% if certain dialogue options work without having started quests (such as offering Alundar a head):
Go straight to the frog island and kill a king for his head, get your first widget and the crux, and bounce. Then collect the other three widgets (starting with the boat and goblin-infested castle, then the witch's bank vault last). Head straight to Omentor and then go have a nice chat with a dragon.


What do you guys think?

[Kreador Freeaxe]

Fun stuff! Maybe I need to pick myself up a cheap PC that can still run the old games. Apple made it so I can't play Eschalon anymore right now.