So while I've been writing up my equipmentless conduct run, I was thinking it would be fun to write a speed guide too. So here it is. (This is more or less written from memory, so I might miss some obvious steps here and there. Will refine it the next time I actually try to to a run.) Anyone have anything more tips or see anything I'm missing? Various things are under [debate] below and I'm sure there are other things to debate as well. Some of the [debates] will depend on how the RNG favours your run too.
Thanks to everyone who has shared their speed secrets with me!
Speedrunning Guide
Once you've played through a few beta resets, you might be interested in playing through it more quickly. Seasonal Coins are awarded to those who complete the quickest runs each season, and quickly resetting allows you to experiment with different skills. With recent quest tweaks, completing a run in three days is still possible, but not as easy as it once was. A gang smuggler and some unearthly items can help out.
(Thanks to all the players (Mag!) who have given tips about going quickly through the main questline over the years. This guide is more or less what I try to do, but is by no means definitive - please feel free to edit in your own suggestions. Also note: there are many hidden things in this game, and they are more often than not discovered by people who aren't following guides. Experiment!)
(Also note: speed is always a balance between risk & reward. You can probably skip a few turns and avoid picking up Gunslinger/Pugilism; and if you do fifty resets, probably one of those will result in a faster run than any if you got the skill, but 49 of them will be slower. This guide is more or less written assuming you want to do consistent three day runs.)
In general (diet)
The leaderboards are ranked by Days, then Skills, then Turns. This means that minimizing the number of turns is less of a priority than generating lots of turns. It is probably best to save most of your Body until Day 3, when you can craft some Cut Nova and get much better Energy:Body returns than if you used it on cups of Joe or whatever else you have lying around at the end of day 1. Of the 30 Body you get in a 3-day run, I often spend ~20-24 of it on Cut Nova and the rest on Eclipse to speed up specific areas.
Likewise, spending your Hunger on lower yield foods like grilled paninis probably won't give you enough turns to complete the run in three days. In general, things like caramel bars, pike sushi, or acidic sushi (with Ocean Sight) give good energy without taking too long to acquire.
(For me, learning to bank most of my Body/Hunger for better quality items was the single key in going from 5-6 day runs to 3-4 day runs.)
It is a balance between saving all your Body/Hunger for late in the run when you have access to the best consumables, but also having enough energy to take advantage of Daily Activities:
- Using the gang smuggler(s) daily (see below for suggestions on what to ask for).
- You get a free full heal at each rollover (2)
- The summoning skills counter resets - handy for managing your turns of Etheric.
In general, I end Day 1 somewhere in the Sewer Hideout, and Day 2 just before getting to the slags.
Southside quest
First thing to decide is whether you want to primarily want to use Melee or Ranged techniques through the run. Pugilism and Gunslinger are quick and useful skills that kind of set the path for the rest of the run.
I previously always went with Ranged techniques, but there have been various debates over which is better over the years. For simplicity, this guide will go forward assuming you mostly want to go Ranged (but perhaps someone more experienced with Melee could comment?)
Starting out, I get my items from Zack, 50 cred from Mikhail and set my deck to 5/5/5 for Dive/Shoot/Short Burst. If I'm going for Ranged, I'll help the gangers in the park. (Running away from the ganger combats may speed things up? Spading needed.) Once I get Carlos, it's quick to get a couple Eclipse. If somehow I end up with 100 cred, I can get Gunslinger at this point, but more often than not that will have to wait until after the Docks quest.
Docks Quest
Start the Stolen Medicine quest by talking to the Squatter King twice. Adventure at the waterfront until you open up the sewers. Steal crates as you go, looking for the Squatter King's medicine [debate: should you skip this until you have better stats?], but don't worry if you don't find it - come back for it tomorrow rather than waste turns today. (Don't turn it in until after the quest if you do find the medicine.) [debate: You can either Blackmail the guard to unlock the sewers, or Charge in, and one of the gangers will probably drop a crude ganger map, while also giving more XP and items. Any extra ganger maps past this point get turned into paper mache for later.]
Take an Eclipse and head into the sewers, looking for the fairy to take you to the hideout. As soon as you get in the hideout, burn your extra turns of etheric with a summoning skill if you can. (I generally summing with Urban Lore, until I get a creepy clown, and then use Emerald Meditation until I get a strange sketch, and the alternate between the two if I happen to get both.)
At this point a gang smuggler use is probably warranted: [debate: what to choose?] A wicked knife is useful at various points for sneaking around. Medical supplies have general utility. A crate of Drugs probably won't help you today, but gives an additional chance of getting Cut Nova later on.
Getting Dr. Thomas in the sewers isn't vital, but it can speed several things up later on. I normally kill any ganger combats that come up (while keeping the total kill count to less than 10), but don't go out of my way to kill gangers in choice encounters until after I have her as a contact. [ Debate: also try to steal an electrical kit from the sleeping guards in a hut? May take a few extra turns but saves you 150 cred.]
If you got an electrical kit and smuggled a biomonitor circuit from medical supplies, it may be handy to craft a monitoring vest, or else craft it once you get to the university and buy a kit.
Once you get Dr. Thomas and/or electrical kit, you can go on a killing rampage. The sleeping hut encounter can kill 5 Fangs at once (but only shows up early on), and the Trio Of Guards can kill another three at once. Note you only get credit for a kill if you kill all the guards in an encounter - so if you kill two of the three and then lose, you don't get credit for any. Time your rests accordingly: because you only get 15 HP from resting, you don't have to wait til zero HP to rest. (and in general, it is sometimes worth it to rest at 5-10 HP throughout the run so that you don't 'waste' a combat by losing later on.) You'll probably run out of energy at some point in the hideout here, so if you can time that with low HP, you'll get a free rest overnight. Next day, you can smuggle some medical supplies or drugs.
If you are going Ranged, be careful not to tie to the gang boss or you will miss out on Explosive Shot, which is a nice upgrade to Short Burst. If you get poor draws and are close to a tie, might be best to run away, rest up and try again. After that, you can burn the crates to get some free turns of Etheric.
(I avoid starting Dr. Thomas' quest until strictly required so that I don't waste energy skipping those encounters. Even if you don't start it until day 3, two crates is probably enough to see you through the run. You can also start it as the last thing you do on day 2 to get an extra couple crates just in case.)
University Quest
At this point, the questing gets a lot more complicated. You're going to be doing a lot of traveling back and forth between Southside, The Docks, The University and eventually the Slags. The Metros is only 5 credits a ride, but that does add up over the 10-20 trips you'll need to take. (Credits aren't usually a huge concern, but it sucks to be a few creds shy of a Learntop at the end of your run. If you stole an electrical kit, you have a bit more leeway, but if you buy armory tools later, you have a bit less.) Do what you can here to reduce unnecessary trips around town. (Eg. you won't be using a chemistry kit until you get to the Slags, but buy it now, and install it the next time you go to Southside Park. That will save you a trip and 10 cred once you get Experimental Chemistry instead of running back home to set it up.)
Anyway, first things first, check on Dr. Amundsen's office to start the quest off, and pick up some supplies before heading back to the docks. I normally smuggle some drugs, and buy a chemistry kit, electrical kit, sushi kit and 5 caramel bars.
Before rescuing David, the top priority is to get Ocean Eyes and some fish to eat. Head to the docks and look for the fish person. (It might be worth it to run away from Ghouls if you have enough reflexes to do so - they can have long chains and you probably won't have much Melee Defense. Not worth losing 15 HP just for 3 XP.) Turn the empty jar into a jar of poison in the sewers, and then back to the waterfront for the skill. You'll probably have a number of turns of Etheric left, so might as well get Focused Mind from Southside Park while you can. [debate: has additions to the Whispers in the Park quest changed anything here? I haven't really reset much since that came out.] Time to sober up now to get some fish - I burn what turns of Etheric I can with summoning skills, and if I still have turns left, perhaps spend my 5 turns to get Gunslinger, or start work on the abandoned building. Once sober, back to the docks to get a fishing pole, flip an unearthly coin for and eager fish, and perhaps pick up the crate of stolen medicine while I'm there. It isn't super important to actually eat the sushi today, but at least finding it is useful since it's only once per day. (Also note: ghouls are especially deadly if you have a fishing pole equipped. Run away!)
While on the waterfront, you'll probably also come across the Whispers With Midgard encounter; you can charge in to get a Midgard Cap (and Warehouse Badge) which will come in handy later.
At some point while you're doing all that, you'll probably run out of energy, which is what the caramel bars are for. I typically only eat caramel bars 'as needed' - if you get a lot of acidic sushi later on I'd rather use my Hunger on that on Day 3, but more often than not I end up eating 4-6 caramel bars in run anyway.
Also at some point here, you'll want to deal with the protest on the quad. Probably the quickest way: while sober, ask the poet what's up, then take a single Eclipse and get a lake serpent sample for Dr. Myers. You might be able to combine those 5 turns of Etheric with eating your sushi and/or getting in the boiler room.
Time to get back to your rescue mission. A gas grenade is needed - probably from the Squatter King's explosive, otherwise you can try for one from the VIP Room girl (need to be Etheric and started Dr. Thomas' quest). If that fails too, off to the Midgard Warehouse instead.
If you don't have a Third Eye shirt by this point, you can start the abandoned building anyway - one often drops while passing the other three checkpoints. If you still don't have one after that, consider heading to the Happy Hour because Poseurs drop them more often than Third Eye Gangers. If a good combat unearthly item is in season (eg. the prototype coat), you might be able to kill the three Third Eyes instead, though more often than not it seems like I spend more turns resting/retrying than it would have taken to just get the shirt. Might be more plausible if/when skill perming is a thing.
You probably have a good chance of killing Shard + one of his henchmen at once, but can be risky if you get unlucky draws. I normally lure the first guard away and ambush the second one for a simpler fight. 9 Perception is needed for luring the first one away - normally not a problem if you have been using Ranged techniques most of the run, but if you're a couple points short, an unearthly coin, Midgard cap, security visor or Ocean Sight can help. 10 Reflexes for ambushing the second guard - Sugar Rush can give you +1, or a Comm of the Dead or something similar. One Stealth Power also - sometimes a dirty old trenchcoat, but I often use a filthy pistol instead. This lets you gain +2 Ranged Defense from a light armored vest at the expense of +1 Ranged Power.
Next up is Saber in the boiler room. If you got dynamite from the Squatter King, you can walk right in, otherwise it will probably take an Eclipse (sushi time!). Fairly straightforward here, just need to get the Hall of Mirrors ~5 times. Try the door; grab a tome of binding; grab the journal; grab the key; and then charge in. While doing this, I fight most opponents that come up in the asylum, but you want to make sure you’re going into the Saber fight near full health - it is sometimes worth it to run away from the last few opponents here.
6 Etheric Defense is a must - lieutenant’s shades, tome of binding and Focused Mind often work, though sometimes I’ll swap in a better offhand depending on what unearthly items are available if I can manage it. A gumball (from a pinata) can give +1 ED. If I have 2 creepy clowns, I might use one of them here, but if I only have one, probably best to save it for Dr. Johnson later. (If lost to Shard though, use the clown here.) Might want to bump up the proportion of attack:evasion techniques a bit for this fight since Dive for Cover doesn’t evade Etheric Techniques. Watch out for Light of the Eye and stunning bats.
On average, my Day 2 ends somewhere in the underground asylum. Sometimes in the abandoned apartment. Very rarely in the Slags - you might be able to spend a bit extra Hunger to get to the Slags but it really only means one extra smuggle which isn’t too much to go out of your way for. If, somehow, you end your day on the Waterfront, you can save yourself a turn when you fish on Day 3.
Slags
Starting Day 3. Three smuggles will be available today - I mostly go with drugs unless I already have two pinches of Nova, than probably back to medical supplies. (If you only get one Nova, that’ll fill most of your Body but might have to substitute some cut Nova for caffein powder at the end of the day. Also want to fish with an unearthly coin on the waterfront at some point before you get too caught up in the damaged building.
The next bit can be tricky timing. Sooner or later you’ll run out of energy and want to eat some fish sushi, but there’s no real reason to take Eclipse until the 4th or 5th floor of the damaged building. So put off eating for now and you’ll need Experimental Chemistry before you run out of your daily 25 energy. The 2 writhing mass fight is not a huge risk if you do it right away out of the university, but not trivial either; if you have the energy to get into the Slags and pick up a needler rifle or a few advanced clips, it makes it rather less risky. I normally proceed with normal questing until I have ~8 energy left, and then head to the shoreline, which gives me enough time to finish Dr. Myers’ quest and craft some cut Nova. Nova should be taken 'as needed', saving at least one for the Pep in your Step need to unlock the buried lab later on.
Anyhow, Biotech next. A Midgard Cap picked up from the docks can help get a locker key quicker than just trying to pick-pocket. I run away from Midgard Security that pop up or you’ll end up with a lot of Red Alert. (Might be okay to kill one and then head to the shoreline? Dunno. Hounds are fine to kill either way.) [debate: if you have scrubs but no cheatsheets, should you continue to try to pickpocket or just find the breakroom?] Once you have scrubs, Boris or the doctors can direct you toward the testing lab for an ID.
Next: Slags lab. If you somehow have more than ~900 cred at this point, you can probably just buy a full containment suit (eg. if you stole an electrical kit? I’m not sure how often this is a possibility. Might even be worth it if you have to spend a few turns farming creds at the end of the run. Even 850 might be enough since you’ll get some more credits exploring the damaged building/buried lab in the meantime.) More often than not, I use Dr. Thomas’s quest to get two parts of a containment suit and fight guards for a third part. If I can, I remove all/most evasion techniques from my deck at this point. ~3-4 attacking techniques over one round gives a better chance of intact suit parts (and surviving the fight) than ~4-5 attacks spread over two rounds. [debate: is getting armory tools worth it here to repair suits instead of relying on luck?] If you happen to get the top & pants, you could get the helmet from the 4th floor too (and some extra ED while you’re at it), but probably not worth it unless you’ve previously found another air filter source. The upside of fighting slags guards for the last suit part is that you’ll probably get a needler and/or at least Full Auto/Stream of Needles for decent chain 7 attack, and/or shotgun shells for an upgrade to my chain 5 Single Shot. Even if I got Pugilism, it’s still sometimes a damage upgrade to switch to Ranged briefly here if you get a needler. Switch back if you get a spider leg? [Before the containment suit change, switching briefly from Melee to Ranged here was often the boost you needed to get to 6 Perception needed for the containment helmet.]
Before ascending the damaged building, you might want to make sure you have enough equipment to dress as a bum, just in case you have spare turns of Etheric to use after rescuing Hel. (95% of the time, this is not a concern.)
Also - make sure that you have your chemistry kit installed and that you’ve poked the lab computer so that you can ask about Dr. Johnson. You really want to avoid getting Slags Poisoning until after you’ve talked to the scientists on the second floor (twice), but that shouldn’t be a problem with the containment suit (full suit also gives +10 HP when resting over just an air filter, which is very handy.) I normally go through floors 1, 2, and then straight to 4.
Once you get to the forth floor, things get complicated again. It’s not nearly as plausible as it once was (before containment suit changes) to survive four rounds against Dr. Johnson, so now the best plan is normally to give him a hound and hope to survive two rounds. (A handful of extra turns for a handful less defense.) So you’ll want to some/all of the following on the forth floor:
- Bind a hound (Ethericness doesn’t matter; requires tome)
- Get zombie shirt/pants (reqs. Etheric)
- Get heavy containment helmet (reqs. non-Etheric)
If you have the lieutenant’s shades, getting the heavy helmet is not especially beneficial for one more ED. There’s all kinds of possibilities here to optimize your Body/Energy use here: now that you have Experimental Chemistry, you can make liquified/syringe Eclipse for better Body efficiency, but if you wan the heavy helmet, get it before using Eclipse. You’ll pretty much want to be constantly Etheric for the fifth floor eventually, and if you have any extra turns you can use it for unlocking the buried lab.
On to the fifth floor: two tasks which you can kind of do at once: passing the two roads and getting a Dr. Johnson recording.
As far as the two roads goes, there are a couple options. The three eyes are much more susceptible to Ranged attacks than Melee (lower defense and their evasion techniques only evades Melee) so killing them isn’t too bad since you’ll probably already have decent ED for Dr. Johnson. (Alternatively, buff your attributes as much as possible and try for the low road? I’m not nearly as confident with this approach but it can work, especially with the pocket mirror in season (unequip your weapon for a huge attribute boost). Downside is that if you fail, you go back a floor.)
While you’re doing that, you can also set up Dr. Johnson. Watch him once and then give him a hound. Buffing a couple points in Will (normally my lowest stat) can help with his fight - see <xxxxx this table> for chances of surviving. [debate: I’ve occasionally skipped getting Etheric Defense gear earlier in this guide and just attack him with 6 ED and ~30 HP - this gives a ~40% chance of getting a recording, which may take a couple tries but quicker than going out of your way elsewhere. Depends if you are going for the low or high road to some extent.] Up to floor six and talk to Hel.
[debate: for added security, you could pick up a second recording here in case you get unlucky in Novos. Though you seem to get an average of ~7 tries at a one third chance each of getting a Command, which is a 94% chance of success. So can spend a couple extra turns now; or spend an extra ~15 turns later 6% of the time. I normally just go with one recording.]
(Also - at some point here you’ll want to eat your sushi. At minimum probably the eager fish=pike sushi, and any acidic sushi you can make from fighting writhing masses. Maybe a couple caramel bars if you’re still a bit hungry but it’s normally mostly fish.
If you are especially confident that you will have a bunch of turns at the end of the day, you could investigate the lab for the lost son quest before turning over your suit to Hel. Otherwise carry on to unlocking the buried lab. Bum outfit, cut Nova for Pep in your Step, and some form of Etheric. If you don’t have any turns of Ocean Sight left, eating acidic sushi can give Slags Poisoning, or just spend a turn resting in the Slags without an air filter.
Survivors
I’m unsure exactly how the changes to the Buried Lab have affected things (I’m told sneaking around with a wicked knife is useful??) but my current easy strategy is to kill as much as possible until turrets show up, and then run away from everyone (boosting Reflexes) except for Thrivaldi until the Omega Order shows up. Spading needed I think. Air filter helps find documents afterwards.
Once turrets show up, I stop worrying about healing up to near max HP - one HP is essentially as good as thirty because it means you can keep walking around either way. Time to use up all your extra Omnitech bandages, first aid kits, etc. and turn any maps, tracts, etc. item into paper casts. If you’re really desperate for energy, chemistry papers can be bought to save another turn or two of healing.
After that, it’s a quick jaunt over to unlock the Fang PDA. If you are desperate for creds, you could try to kill Boris for his PDA, but might be easier to farm the VIP room (though neither is needed very often).
Wrap up
If you are going for leaderboard position, best to pick up as many skills as you can with your remaining energy. Chess is the easiest for 15 cred and 1 energy (and you sometimes already have the book from the asylum). Simple Coding also isn’t too bad if you have decent Perception. Ocean’s Touch is fairly quick but requires either getting a new containment suit or entering the operating room before giving up your suit. Next quickest is probably Pyro.