Latest Heroic Karazhan decks without the Holy Wrath + Ceaseless OTK

Decklist: https://imgur.com/a/gLUnIDb Deckcodes: https://pastebin.com/T6t5X0ZF

I've replaced the Holy Wrath Paladin decks with Linecracker + BEES Druid deck. The new Trail Mix card made it more likely to get a Turn 6-7 win, and I'll still usually get a Turn 8 win without the ramp cards anyway.

For Julianne, I've tried a regular Odd Paladin deck and it works faster than an OTK deck.

Anyway, I was hoping to start doing runs of this adventure, but the recent patch (31.2) has a huge AI change. The AI made it very hard to win Heroic Chess, because they'll use their Hero Power a lot more often on the early game. I've only got 1 win out of 10 attempts. So, I don't think I'll be doing Karazhan runs for now, maybe I'll wait until the Chess AI became easier on a future patch.

Latest Heroic Karazhan decks (Edit: Ceaseless OTK strats is banned a day after this post)

Decklist: https://imgur.com/a/p9lUDue Deckcodes: https://pastebin.com/dBqWnPrd

Two bosses (Silverware & Curator) used the new Holy Wrath + Ceaseless Expanse 100-damage OTK.

I was trying this strats for Julianne as well, but her Romulo gives her Immune, and I can't find a consistent way of clearing the Romulo before doing the combo. So I just used the regular Hunter Horseman OTK.

For Free Medivh, I've used Hunter Horseman OTK with Nine Lives to repeat the OTK on the second phase. This deck works similarly to the Ragnaros boss on BRM.

Other bosses are still generally the same as before, with a bit of changes from newer cards.

List of any relevant gameplay differences that we know of. I've based this list on the Steam version, but other versions should have a similar list as well.

Official patch notes are available here, though they aren't always complete: https://support.505games.com/support/solutions/folders/150000539399

2 May 2024:

• FPS enemy encounter issue fixed
• Lam recruitment bug fixed

15 May 2024:

• Item duplication glitch fixed
• Cookoff bug is fixed, where all rounds used to be considered as appetiser rounds
• Can’t prematurely access Eldroad anymore after finishing Impershiarc storyline

4 June 2024:

• “Development Build” version with debugger was released, and got patched out in the same day
• Can't cutscene skip anymore during Carrie's teleport dialogue on world map
• Character’s magic affinity now affect their spell damages
• Aleior’s first recruitment event (talk to Marisa in HQ 1F) is available just before the “point of no return”
• NG+ new bug where Leene recruitment scene can’t be triggered
• Can’t prematurely trigger Chandra’s first recruitment event (hearing the rumors in Drill Ground) anymore before starting Eldroad storyline
• Reyna recruitment bug (failing the fight if you beat her in Turn 3) is fixed
• Dappled Forest / Bounty Hill leveling exploit (walk behind the blocking soldier to get high-level encounters) is fixed
• On world map, entering Hishahn from left-side will spawn you on the right-side of town, instead of the left-side. This might also have fixed the bug where entering Hishahn's left-side will not put Hishahn on your teleport list.
• Yume / Chandra / Aleior are buffed

More detailed list by Julian here https://discord.com/channels/284828716444680202/1228825435014434837/1247720315245695066

22 July 2024:

• Always Auto option now available in the settings
• NG+ Leene recruitment bug is fixed
• Rune Shop in HQ now lets you select all characters outside of the party

I did another comparison with the new patch today (not numbered on the patch notes, I just labelled this v1.0.6 for now).

Seems like loading does get faster. I only have 18s IGT-RTA difference here compared to the 23s IGT-RTA difference in v1.0.5.

Note that the current loadless timer works differently in the versions prior to the latest one (v1.0.5).

On previous versions, it seems the timer doesn't run during the phase where the screen is still black, but when you're already able to skip cutscene. Hence, the previous versions will have a lower loadless time compared to the latest version.

Here's the videos comparing both v1.0.4 & v1.0.5. I've also tried v1.0.3 (the version that still has item duplicate glitch) and it works the same way as v1.0.4.

v1.0.4:

v1.0.5:

Here's my recent decks:

Decklist: https://imgur.com/a/i8vEAQh Deckcodes: https://pastebin.com/h7uZUJrm

Changes from previous decks which wasn't noted on previous posts yet:

• Grim Guzzler: Walking Mountain for a (mostly) guaranteed turn-3 kill
• Thaurissan: Recent AI usually don't use their hero power. And if he does, he'll use it on a minion instead of face. So I just used a rather generic Token Druid deck to aggro him quickly.
• Drakkisath: I choose Warrior since it has a lot of high-value cards. Any class can probably work for this boss today.
• Rend Blackhand / Nefarian: I've tried timing both Linecracker Druid & Mechathun Warlock. Linecracker Druid is a bit faster overall.
• Razorgore: I've tried both Odd Paladin and Linecracker Druid, both decks have around the same average time. So I'm not that sure which one is actually better. (Note: Don't keep the Zilliax Deluxe on your opening hand, as it'll be a 6-mana card and will prevent Baku's Odd-deck effect)
• Chromaggus: Unlike Gardenia's deck, I'm not using Time Warp. But the deck is still mainly the same.
• Lord Nefarius: Using Horseman OTK Priest as per the previous post. I've tried using Mechathun Warlock on my previous 45-minute PB, which is a bit faster overall, but also not that consistent.
• Maloriak: Zilliax Stealth strat is nerfed :( So I wen't back to the Umbra combo deck explained on the previous page.
• Atramedes: I've tried both Even Shaman and Odd Paladin. The latest AI likes to trade on your Silver Hand Recruits, so I found Even Shaman to be faster overall.

Alternative decklists:

• Razorgore - Linecracker + BEES Druid: AAEBAZICAA/pAfgH/eoCj/YC8IkDr6IDhLED+bUDieAD0fYDr4AEnaAEsKUErsAEndQEAAA=
• Lord Nefarius - Mechathun Warlock: AAEBAcn1AgadxwLO6QLx+wKdqQP21gOtogUMj8cCx9MC3tMChLEDld4DiO8DndQEsu0E7v0F054GpqgGw7gGAAA=

Hey, welcome! Couple of people been actively chatting about this speedrun on the discord, you'll be welcome to join in as well.

If you play on PC, you can easily downpatch the game on Steam. And some of us have expressed interest to have a category split between new and old patch.

Level 08 - Commune (with 3x Shock and Awe)

This is a followup from the strats in Mine & DDM, where Mine will use 2x Shock and Awe and DDM will use no Rebel Points at all, leaving 600 points for 3x Shock and Awe in this level.

On Turn 13 (no more Rebel Points), Bulka can't move too much to the right side, to avoid getting caught by one of the last 2 enemies that we can't arrest.

Level 06 - Mine (with Default Team glitch & 2x Shock and Awe)

The level requires arresting the 5x civilians as well, killing them will softlock the level.

On Turn 7, I could've used Shock and Awe before Helberg moves inside the pump room (not done in this vid), which will let one enemy alive. This is actually useful, since the enemy could kill Helberg after she put the explosives, which will speedup the level-up animation after this fight. So overall, letting Helberg die is probably slightly faster overall.

Level 10 - Mansion (with Default Team glitch)

There's no need to Save&Quit after doing the glitch on this level, since the ending will play as normal without the Save&Quit.

The level basically goes this way:

• Start - Use 10x Rebel Spirit to bypass all enemies on the front, and to trigger Victor Zuev's escape timer immediately
• Just before getting out of the maze, there's one enemy that will shoot us. It's fine if one of our cop is dead immediately, as we only need 5x cops to get rid of the next enemies.
• When getting out of the maze, use 2x Rebel Spirit so all of our cops can get rid of the 5 enemies out of the maze straight away (and we still have 40 points left for the Steady Hand perk in this turn)
• After this, only need 4x cops to move forward while getting rid of 2 more enemies on the way to Zuev. Could use Taser to stun these enemies first as Taser will have a better accuracy.
• At the end, only need 2-3x cops to camp at Zuev's spawn position.

I've tried minor variations of the above strats, but they doesn't seem to be faster. Such as sacrificing 2x of our cops at turn 1 to the enemies at the front. Or to wait one turn before using the Rebel Spirits at the start, so some of our cops will get to move ahead without needing to use as much Rebel Points.

My movements in this vid can also still be optimised to reduce the enemy movements.

Level 05b - Construction Site (followup from level 04b's Default Team glitch above)

So in this level, you can actually ignore the bomb disarms. Rescuing the hostage will finish the level immediately, unlike the Airport level where you actually have to complete the two main objectives.

This strat made me think the Bookstore path is probably faster than the Big Rift path, cause this level can be done in only 6 turns (though I haven't bothered to try optimising the Big Rift path).

I need 300 Rebel Points for this strat, so previous level's usage of 640 points will leave enough points for this level.

Level 04b - Bookstore (Default Team glitch)

I don't know if this is faster than Big Rift or not, and this level seems to need lots of Rebel Spirit uses to be fast. But I feel it's worth it to do this path, because of how quick the Construction Site below.

The plan is to have two people on the right going to the biker straight away. While the other four people go inside the store, arrest one of Zuev's man once the two right-side officers get close to the park, and hope that a lot of our cops got killed inside the bookstore to speedup the level-up animations.

(also I don't know what's the fastest thing to do on the bookstore. Maybe it's faster to just have one or two cops inside, or to have our cops kill the Sharpwood cops? Will need timing tests if anyone want to bother optimising this)

Then once we get close to the biker, use bunch of Rebel Spirits to finish the mission quickly, and having a relay of two cops carrying the biker will reduce the amount of Rebel Spirits required. Note that we still want to save some Rebel Points for the next mission. (this part can be done with less Rebel Points which requires more turn)

One part that wasn't shown in this clip is how sometimes the Sharpwood cop inside the right-top room will try to shoot our right-side cops who are heading north. If this happens, I'll have my sniper shoot this cop.

Level 07 - DDM

Going to the Drug Lab via the short route from the strip club. This requires using and 1x Lockpick.

Default Team glitch doesn't give you a lockpick. So we'll need to buy the lockpick before this level.

It can be done using 2x Shadow perks (first vid), or slightly slower with no perks at all (second vid) if we want to save Rebel Points for the next level.

Just recently played this game and I had fun watching the speedrun. So while the game is still fresh in my head, I played around the game and found some strats. Though I'm sure the strats below can be optimised. (doubt I'll actually do a run soon, if ever)

One note about the Default Team glitch. If there's no save/load done, then the game will force you to go back to tutorial after finishing the level. To fix this, simply make a save during a level, go to main menu, and press Continue. Don't need to replay the victory screen like what was done on the 1:09 run.

Because of this, I think the benefits of using the Default Team glitch multiple times in a single run outweighs the timelosses from the additional menuing required to set up the glitch. If I tried to route this run, I'll use the glitch multiple times.

v.1.3.0:

• Scooter Warp (Dismount + Ragdoll) doesn't work anymore. The Dude will instead fall OOB while on ragdoll.
• While moving on scooter, doing Weapon Wheel + Dismount + Ragdoll might warp the Dude some distance away. (we're still unsure how this exactly works)
• Animal Catcher: Increased animal counts (6x dogs & 8x cats), with a new junkyard area nearby where lots of cats & dogs can be found.
• Prison: 969 voice message finishes quicker, which made it harder to do the 969 trick. And after the 969 cutscene (with catnip), our walking speed becomes faster.
• Pay Fine: Bustedwarp to the start of this errand will only load part of the terrain (so we'll fall OOB), and our weapons will still be kept. (without this errand active, regular bustedwarps will still work normally as before)
• In-game Timer can be enabled in the settings (though this won't be used for the leaderboards).
• When loading old saves, the terrain might not be fully loaded, which might cause us to immediately fall OOB.
• Scooter can't bypass The Zag tunnel Zap Zones (it's a temporary bug prevention by the devs)
• The bug where you can get a kill count from NPC falling OOB has been fixed (according to patch notes).

v1.3.1:

• Doesn't seem to have any changes besides the minor fixes listed on the patch notes.

v1.3.2:

• Turning off "Rotate mini map" settings actually works now.

Omnotron with Demon Hunter: https://imgur.com/a/3Ihcgoc

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Based on Gardenia's idea. Use Electron's effect to cast all the spells & draws to kill the enemy hero immediately. Lion's Frenzy is very good as it can easily get 10+ attack. Usually we'll mulligan for card draws or Lion's Frenzy.

Also preferable to kill Toxitron straight away with one of spells, so that the Toxitron doesn't kill Arcanatron which buffs our spells for later.

There's a small chance Omnotron will play his 2/5 Taunt minion, Fel'dorei Warband will spawn Rush minions which can be used to deal with the taunt.

Mindbender also have the same effect as Lion's Frenzy. But I never had issue drawing my weapon on time so I don't think I need this minion in my deck.

I've tried to do timing comparision of this versus the Gadgetzan Auctioneer Rogue deck, and this DH deck is faster overall.

Lord Nefarius with Rivendare + Zerek's Cloning Gallery OTK Priest: https://imgur.com/a/8WfMf4u

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A deck with mostly spells. Creation Protocol made it consistent to tutor the Polkelt. And because Creation Protocol is a Discover effect, it allows me putting one more minion without ruining the tutor ability, so I use this minion slot to put Dragonslayer.

There's a small chance that the AI will get a random spell that ruins your combo (e.g. Silence effects). But this chance is very small overall and usually it's not worth anticipating it. If it's convenient, I'll play SW:D or The Light It Burns on my Rivendare immediately after I played him, but it's fine not doing this.

Tech card choices:

• Devouring Plague: Useful spell to deal with his smaller minions (e.g. Twilight Whelp or Faerie Dragon), which might not get killed by other removals for bigger minions.
• Not using Fight Over Me. A lot of the time, Fight Over Me doesn't let you kill two minions at once in this fight, it doesn't suit this boss's minions.

Ragnaros with Rivendare Hunter OTK + Nine Lives: https://imgur.com/a/ukMCBIB

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Similar to other Rivendare Hunter OTKs, but you need to trigger the OTK a second time using Nine Lives.

Lorekeeper Polkelt will guarantee a Nine Lives draw after the Rivendare, but it might got delayed if you drew Master's Call first instead (I'm not sure if it's a good idea to have 2x Master's Call because of this). Also to be safe, need to make sure Rivendare didn't die before you have Nine Lives on hand, as Rivendare's deathrattle will reshuffle the deck and might prevent you from drawing Nine Lives on time.

Need to make sure that you can tank Ragnaros's 16-damage hero power before you use Nine Lives, but this is usually easy enough since it's easy to control his board.

Maloriak with Spiritsinger Umbra + Recurring Villain / Korrak: https://imgur.com/a/Owjr7yJ

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A Priest deck with mostly spells, and with minion tutor spells that lets us consistently draws the Umbra full board combo later in the game. Meat Wagon is also a viable alternative to Korrak.

If you place Villain/Korrak on the board early on before turn 8, without playing the Umbra on the same turn, there's a decent chance that he'll use Polymorph on your minion which could slow down the game quite a lot. Although the payoff from triggering the combo before turn 8 could get you a really fast win.

This seems faster overall compared to other Priest decks such as the old regular deck (with eggs etc) or Big Priest deck, while still have the same (or maybe better) winrate as well.

I've also tried Rivendare OTK Priest. But the combo won't work if Rivendare got Polymorphed.

Gardenia tried a similar deck but with Paladin instead, and he also put Molten Giant as an extra win condition. The recent Paladin cards are good enough to control the board, but there's also a lack of minion tutors which seems to make the deck slower overall compared to Priest.

v1.2.0:

• Loadout & Custom Difficulty options are back, and the Loadouts still enable the Sissy-mode by default as well.

• Ragdoll is back! But with a short jump height, pushup launches can't do high distance jumps any more.

• Any load zone transitions will trigger a checkpoint (whether it's from OOB warps, fast travel platforms, or Zap Zones). This prevents any distant deathwarps strats, such as the old Treasure Hunter OOB deathwarp strats.

• OOB warp on Mall seems to have more chance in giving out visible interiors, without having to QS/QL to fix it. (Dam warp still tends to show invisible interiors)