I know I am super late to the party, but I was interested in trying to pick up the game to try to learn to speed-run it over the next year or so. I know the run has a lot of RnG in it but I'm fine with that since it will take me a while to get good with it, right now I'm aiming to just have a run on the leader board by December so I've got a lot of time to learn.

I have a few questions about the game and the run.

In the rules I see that DLC5 caused a lot of issues, which one is DLC 5 and why did it change so many things?

The current WR is still the best route for now, or did someone else find a better one that just hasn't been used yet?

Is there a method outside of backing up save files for practising missions/sections with correct level and talents?

Is there any advice you can give to a new runner to speed up learning?

Keyboard and mouse or controller or a mix? I'm assuming keyboard and mouse are better for bow combat but I'm fairly use to the controller for over-world navigation.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

So I thought I would answer my own questions in case anyone was curious in the future.

1.DLC5 This patch removed a lot and makes the current any% run pathing not viable (this is what I've found so far there might be more) The ability to turbo level is gone, you can only gain a max of 3 levels in one go, even killing a level 63 Warchief as a level 4 Talion on gave me 3 levels. The marketplace was removed, you can no longer buy captins for very quick fort takeovers.

2. Route As mentioned above the current WR route isn't viable for this patch, most of it can be used as a guide but we need to deviate from it at around the 20 min mark, I'm working on what I believe is the current best route but its far from finished.

3. Save data It is possible, I'm planning to write a guide over the next few weeks its slighty annoying but at least we can use it to practice parts of the run.

4. Advice I'm still pretty new so my advice is rough but the biggest thing I have right now is learning how NPCs path can save minutes.

5. Keyboard and mouse I'm still using controller for most things and switching when needed, however if your a new runner still to learning from Keyboard and mouse.

My recommendation is that you join the discord that is in the drop down menu. This will help your questions be answered faster. Also routes are being worked on by other people in the community and figuring out an optimal route for the game.

Thanks I have no idea how I missed the discord link, thank you.