hey everyone!

This Sunday, March 28, 8:00 AM PST we'll be discussing some aspects of how we handle run submissions in this discord. https://discord.gg/rj7j8ZvBeB . The topics to discuss are pinned in the #discussion_lists channel

The discussion will be held in voice chat but you can discuss in both text and voice form, as long as you are able to listen in on the discussion. I will be recording/scribing the discussion to generate a solid set of minutes we can refer to if there are to be changes made.

Ideally, all mods and verifiers should be present, and as many active speedrunners as we can. If you can't make it but would still like to participate, let me know. if necessary we can schedule another meeting to include people that were not able to make it and/or if we could not come to a solid conclusion about a topic. Any questions prior to the meeting feel free to ask! - Blazer

How fast can you kill Baal using -act5?

Hey everyone! I've decided to hold a mini speedrun competition in the Diablo 2 Speedrun Community. The Category: -act5 Sorceress. -act5 is not an official category, but can be fun and super competitive nonetheless. There are prizes involved, so get your mouse and keyboard ready! This contest runs from now until this friday at midnight, Pacific Standard Time.

About the Run -act5 mode starts any newly made character at level 33 in Horogath in Act 5, with no gear and all stats/skills aren't spent yet (same goes for -act2, 3, and 4 in their respective acts, at different starting levels for each). It was probably there for quickly making new characters to test game content in development, but it was left in. My current best -act5 time is 6:40, but I think a time getting close to 6 minutes is possible. This will be a heavy reset category if you're going for top prizes, but I recommend trying it out anyways even if you don't intend on grinding it out! It's really fun when you get the runs going. Some information I've gathered in my own runs and good-to-know stuff can be found here: https://www.speedrun.com/d2lod/thread/jye7j

The Rules

• End goal: Kill Baal in Normal difficulty
• Game must be launched with -act5 in the executable parameters (same place you'd put -w and -sndbkg)
• New character must be Sorceress
• No save/quit allowed
• No -ns, -seed, modifying drops with -txt, maphack programs, etc
• no use of /players (players 1 only)
• Must use the latest patch of Diablo 2 (1.14d)
• No difference between hardcore/softcore, up to your preference (I recommend softcore, dying at Baal isn't too uncommon but a well placed TP will only lose a few seconds on a death)
• Must be an Expansion character
• Time starts on character creation and ends on the Baal kill. Diablo Interface can autostart and stop the timer with -act5 characters. potentially-prize-qualifying runs will be re-timed if necessary on the first frame after the first loading screen (first frame you see the game) and on the frame Baal starts his dying animation (or ice breaking animation if he dies that way)
• Run must be attempted after February 8th at 15:00 and before February 12th at 23:59

The Prizes First prize: $100 USD Second prize: $50 Third prize: $25 In the event of there being multiple people placing in the same tier, down to the frame, prize will be increased by 50% per person and then split by the number of people who placed, unless it gets to a ridiculous number at my discretion ;) For example, if 3 people placed 1st exactly, prize will be $200 (100+50+50) split 3 ways ($66.67 per person). I doubt this will happen but you never know! I just don’t want to break my bank /too/ much ;) Prizes will be given in the form of Paypal payment, Amazon gift, Tier 1 Sub Donations to your/another channel (random gift subs only), or some other arrangement agreed upon between the winners and myself. If Gift Subs is chosen, any remainder will be sent to the channel in an equivalent amount of Bits, and may be sent during a time that streamer is live (for hype!)

Submissions Standard run submission guidelines apply - No separate in-game timer is needed since there are no save-quits. Good quality video with minimal game screen covered by other stream objects, and game sound must be included. PM the run VOD to me on Discord or Speedrun.com Submissions deadline is 23:59 PST February 12th

Submit your runs to: Blazer-flamewing#6128 on discord Or DM me here Include link to vod, time (include milliseconds: format : 6:40.38), your twitch username and your speedrun.com username

Good luck, go fast and have fun!

Any questions feel free to ask here

-Blazer

Hey all! Some runners have been using this Run Resetting macro to help with resetting runs to get a top left town map. I've taken this script that Indrek was using and modified it to make a GUI to make it easy for everyone to use

This script is intended to automatically reset your timer, click Single Player, delete the most recent character, create a new character with the selected class, name, hardcore setting and expansion setting. It does nothing else beyond creating the character. The selected hotkey to activate the script needs to be pressed twice in quick succession, to help prevent accidentally using it during a run. Despite this safety mechanism, it is recommended you use a hotkey that you're not likely to hit during a run.

It's been compiled so it should run on any (Windows) system. It needs to be calibrated before use, you have to tell it where to click after all! Once it is calibrated, you shouldnt need to calibrate again unless you change anything to do with the window size (for example, if you started using Glide wrapper)

Editing this script to automate any inputs AFTER character creation, or activating this script accidentally during a run is against the rules, so please keep that in mind if you intend to modify the script. This script automatically deletes characters. Keep that in mind if you have important characters in your save folder. Make backups of saves if necessary. Don't use it on battlenet. I won't be held responsible for accidentally deleted characters

Any questions, issues, or suggestions about the script can be discussed in this thread

Link to the tool: https://www.speedrun.com/tools/D2Speedrun_Autoreset_2.2_67cud.zip

Hey all, it became apparent that recording the game in Full Screen created an issue with recording software capturing the game and there being chunks of black screen being captured instead of the actual game whenever you transitioned from game to menu and vice versa

I've found a relatively simple solution so that those who wish to speedrun this game in full screen instead of being forced to use windowed, can! I've linked the guide below and created this thread for any comments or further related issues to be discussed. I have only tested this with OBS, so if anyone can test on other software that would be nice as well.

https://www.speedrun.com/d2lod/guide/rho7z

hey! This has been discussed before and I did some offline testing in a previous thread years ago, but nothing really came of it. If anything, it became somewhat of a joke to suggest runners use it to cheat a run despite how obvious that would be, haha. However, there has been some interest in it lately that made me pick it up and stream it, and got some pretty good feedback about it in my stream, as well as Indrek picking it up and playing against my time. Does 2 people actively running it make it worth being a category? maybe not, but I thought I'd post my VOD here nonetheless to see if more runners are interested in picking it up, and maybe trying out a more down-to-the-millisecond speedrun of Diablo 2. It can be a really good filler for long hardcore streams that "ended early" or it can turn into serious grind-time too. Fun for all I'm sure :3

Here is my vod for -act5 Sorceress, with a time of 6:40.38. I highly suggest including milliseconds in the timing of these runs as it eventually really will come down to it. I can see runs easily approaching 6 minutes with luck and minimal mistakes

To do this run, all you need to do is put -act5 in the parameters of the executable or shortcut, the same spot you would put -sndbkg and -w. I highly recommend making a new shortcut (called diablo 2 -act5) so that you dont have to edit it every time you want to switch categories :P Whenever you make a new character with this parameter active, they will be level 33 and start in act 5. -act2, 3, and 4 work too, with different starting levels (Individual-level style speedruns could easily be done for all act bosses, but for now I'm most interested in act 5)

Strat-wise, I've tried quite a few different things, including fireball and nova for some reason, but clearly Cold is the way to go. I went with Orb but you could go blizzard if you wanted, but Orb is much easier to control on the go and you dont have to watch for monsters to run into it, as well as covering more area. I specced 5 in Energy shield so that I take less damage and have more "health", and 8 in Static Field so that I can hit all ancients with 2-3 statics before circling Madawc and casting Orb, as well as hit Baal from a safer distance. I spec 15-20 points in Vitality since you will still take regular damage, and the rest in Energy. With this much mana, you can easily teleport all the way to Doc Farren with no mana potions and have leftover to cast a few Orbs to kill him, and hopefully get at least 2 mana potions and some gold / usable loot. Continue teleporting to Shenk and Eldritch for more chances at loot before going to town (unless Farren got you 25k and a magus wand, then you could skip these two groups and get your potions now). Going to town only once in the run is optimal, just to buy enough potions. Maybe shop for a magus wand.

If you dont go full energy / energy shield, you wont have enough mana for the initial teleporting. You also use less mana potions in general, and take less damage overall, so I recommend this build. Energy shieldless build You have to run to doc farren, which is easy time loss, or you have to pop a clickable and get a mana potion or 25k item, which will become very grindy. But I'm sure it could work, too.

Good luck to anyone trying out this run!

Side-note, I have also tried other classes, but they arent nearly as exciting as the sorc. Sin and Pally both with a time of 14:38 and Barb with a time of 28:51, but I only did a few runs with these classes and like a hundred runs with Sorc. If asked I can post the vods for these too, but they can definitely be way better times and strats more polished. The hardest part is figuring out what the best way to start is, and what you need to go for in terms of drops (you need to be able to kill mobs too so this affects your strategies, unless you're going for pop-chests-only....)

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

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

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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!

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

Hey everyone,

This has probably been brought up before, but there has been recent activity and discussion among other runners about different categories, and I was wondering if there is possibility to include them as new categories, and discuss exactly what each one should entail. I'm seeing some people already doing runs (myself included) and it'd be nice to gauge interest among the rest of the community

P8 - purely doing a run on /players 8 from character creation to last boss (Abigail% for example)

Px - Ability to change /players settings at will to gain exp and items in optimal locations. Being a very commonly used feature of a single player game, and the fact it can help a player go much faster, and thus is true to the nature of speedrunning, i feel it should be a more looked at category

100% - All quests in the quest page, including killing the Cow King

Multiplayer - Using TCP/IP or Battle.net to organize a multiplayer run (not sure if the number of players matter) - Timer starts at last person to join, or first player to leave town?

Seeded - Using a set seed or map file for the category so the maps are the same, reducing RNG and increasing consistency between runs (no losing runs to 2/3/4 way arcane, bad jungle, etc). I know that the nature of the randomness and the ability to read maps are what diablo speedrunning is mostly all about, but also the nature of speedrunning in general is finding ways to complete the game the fastest, and finding a GG map seed can accomplish that as well as reduce time lost in runs to going wrong ways. Still have to manage exp and items drops etc

Please discuss! I'd like to see more interest in these categories.

Is there a reason that most splits are done from boss fights and not the end of an act? (the end of an act being the time you move from one act to another, eg talking to Warriv and moving to act 2, split on that loading screen, with the exception of killing Baal of course)

I know you can basically set up your splits however you want, I'm just curious as to why splitting at each boss is the norm - I'm considering switching to splitting on acts, as the amount of time you spend in town before moving on to an act can vary (whether you got Mallus and wanted to imbue some boots, amount of potion managing before moving on to act 5 if you're low on money, etc etc)

(I run normal SC runs btw, I'm sure splitting a Hell run can vary greatly)

Hey all,

I've been speedrunning Normal any% sc Druid for the past 2 weeks and getting really into it, so I decided to start branching out into new characters, trying out the Sorc.

Doing a practice run after reading the resources available, I picked up an Eagle Orb that gives: +3 to Frost Nova +2 to warmth +20% light res +10% FCR Pretty nice find right? Too bad it wasn't a serious run since I am not used to Sorc at all!

Now my question to you all is, and this can apply to any other character or run: If you find an item that affects your skill levels, can you use that to your advantage to possibly speed up your run?

In the above example, I found that orb during a Tower run, and by the time I respec after killing Andariel I was level 14. Following the current guide, since I already have +3 to frost nova, I did not spend a skill point in it and therefor I have 2 skill points leftover (one to put in Teleport and one not spent on Frost Nova) And I was wondering the possibilities of that extra skill point would be (since we don't have any other weapon to get, and I figured spending an extra point on Frost Nova would be pointless). I can't put it in Nova since I'm always maxed out. I could possibly put it in Warmth (mana regen, might not be worth it, plus my item already gives +2), another Static Field (slightly more range, might not be worth it...), Frost Armor (less time spent casting it in the long run), or save it for another Teleport later on (saving some mana/time spent getting mana pots in the long run). I think the extra Teleport level might be the best option, but perhaps there are other ways to go about it

This is just food for thought, nothing to really rely on, but if you do come across these items it can really make you pause and think before you vendortrash it. At least for me anyways since this is all new to me. I think it can be beneficial if you already have an idea what to do when you find these items that can affect your skill route. Orbs/wands, druid/barb helms, paladin shields, etc

Anyone else have thoughts on this?