Mass Effect

Edit history:

your_name_here: 2013-07-31 07:47:47 pm

2013-07-31 07:45:50 pm

I'm pretty sure the latest patch (1.02) is fastest, since it fixes the glitch where the game softlocks if you pause too quickly after gaining control (since pausing stops all your momentum, it's fastest if you do your level ups as soon as you gain control). It potentially also fixes the glitch that makes the mako in ilos have low gravity for some reason, since I don't think Wymorn has run into it.

However, 1.01 lets you take your gun out in the elevator and use your powers, which is why I play it, because elevators are long and I like to pass the time.

As for rebinding the quickload button, I'm not sure about that. It's not a feature that the game lets you use by default. Binding dialogue skip simply takes the place of a rebind script, which is legal by SDA. Though, it wouldn't hurt to ask for a clarification of the rules in this case.

Wymorn

2013-07-31 07:47:25 pm

Rank 1 Goatborn

It would probably be worth finding out, it would save like 2 minutes over the course of an RTA run. Also, is that cutscene trigger skip worth doing in realtime? That might save a lot of time.

your_name_here

2013-07-31 08:03:02 pm

Which one? The weapon switching one? Maybe. It skips the trigger, but you can't run while switching weapons, so it might be faster to just do the dialogue, then sprint. It's really easy to do with a freescrolling wheel, so if you can find places where it saves time, it'd be worth it RTA.

Wymorn

2013-12-29 08:55:23 pm

Rank 1 Goatborn

I'd still like to get a clarification regarding the Quickloading issue, but I'm not really sure where to make a post. I've never really had this issue before lol

AlecK47

2014-02-04 07:33:44 pm

So I've been setting up male and female "perfect" Shepards to use at C4L, and in the process I was reminded that the programmers over at BioWare are incredibly fastidious about their craft and never make silly scripting errors... Hah, I couldn't even keep a straight face typing that. Turns out you can skip one of the planets in UNC: Geth Incursions if you do the planets in a certain order (it's even on the wiki, though I never thought to check it for something like this). Either you do Rayingri -> Antibaar -> Casbin and skip Maji, or Maji -> Casbin -> Antibaar and skip Rayingri. Maji only contributes an easily replaced light metal to the 100% resource route, so there is now absolutely no reason to go there, though you'd still want to go to the system to get a Turian Insignia off one of the other planets.

In the interest of not making the resource stuff too confusing I'll post a nice and detailed list of what you get and where, this time including the stuff from planets you merely scan. I may even throw in optimized movements within each system. Expect that within a few days.

And on the matter of binding quickload, the game may not actually give you that function by default, but it is nevertheless a function that exists within the game's code (in this case its engine). It checks out on the "Input Modifications" section of the rules for sure. The only possible problem I can see is from the "Software Modifications" section. Even then I would argue that it counts as an ingame setting because, as I mentioned, you are merely binding a previously unbound function that exists within the game's code. It would be nice to get a definitive answer though. I'd rather not have to start a thread asking about it in the SDA Discussion board.

So I've been setting up male and female "perfect" Shepards to use at C4L, and in the process I was reminded that the programmers over at BioWare are incredibly fastidious about their craft and never make silly scripting errors...  Hah, I couldn't even keep a straight face typing that.  Turns out you can skip one of the planets in UNC: Geth Incursions if you do the planets in a certain order (it's even on the wiki, though I never thought to check it for something like this).  Either you do Rayingri -> Antibaar -> Casbin and skip Maji, or Maji -> Casbin -> Antibaar and skip Rayingri.  Maji only contributes an easily replaced light metal to the 100% resource route, so there is now absolutely no reason to go there, though you'd still want to go to the system to get a Turian Insignia off one of the other planets.

In the interest of not making the resource stuff too confusing I'll post a nice and detailed list of what you get and where, this time including the stuff from planets you merely scan.  I may even throw in optimized movements within each system.  Expect that within a few days.

And on the matter of binding quickload, the game may not actually give you that function by default, but it is nevertheless a function that exists within the game's code (in this case its engine).  It checks out on the "Input Modifications" section of the rules for sure.  The only possible problem I can see is from the "Software Modifications" section.  Even then I would argue that it counts as an ingame setting because, as I mentioned, you are merely binding a previously unbound function that exists within the game's code.  It would be nice to get a definitive answer though.  I'd rather not have to start a thread asking about it in the SDA Discussion board.

your_name_here

2014-02-05 12:57:19 pm

You could also bind "At BIOA_END00" to a key using the exact same method. Whether it's a bindable command is not the only consideration.

Here's some plot world routes for 100%. Turns out Noveria and Feros are very boring. Other than the thorian clip and the data recovery clip, it's all in bounds.

Feros
go talk to Fai Dan
go to tunnels destroy transmitter and turn on a pump
do tower
return to Fai Dan, turn in Feros: Geth in the Tunnels
get Feros: Power Cells and Feros: Varren meat from Davin Reynolds and May O'Connell
Highway>get Feros: Data Recovery>exogeni>detatch dropship
Recover Data then clip down to mako
get back to zhu's hope
be sure to kill Davin Reynolds, May O'Connell and Macha Doyle
do feros clip instead of activating controls
beat thorian
turn in Data Recovery

Noveria
go talk to opold
get package
return package to opold
talk to anoleis
go to mezzanine
turn down Noveria: Espionage
talk to Lorik Qui'in
do synthetic insights
talk to giana at bar
do infinite renegade
get pass from qui'in
leave
natural route till rift station
talk to Dr Cohen
hack back door and go through
beat benezia
do hot labs
leave

Generally, quests are completed by simply activating them, and then proceeding to a point where they can no longer be completed, so they get marked as finished. There also isn't any sort of reasonable time saving clip from port hanshan mezzanine to sythetic insights/garage, so everything in port hanshann is in bounds.

Also, I have had double discovery work for me exactly once on the PC version. I'm going to assume that it's either easier based on how slow your computer is, or that they tried to fix it but didn't quite. I'd still like to proceed as if it didn't exist for the time being. There's still no consistent way to make it happen, even on console. The best thing to do would be to save the planets with the longest detours for last, and cut those resources out if we happen to get double discovery at some point.

You could also bind "At BIOA_END00" to a key using the exact same method. Whether it's a bindable command is not the only consideration.

Here's some plot world routes for 100%. Turns out Noveria and Feros are very boring. Other than the thorian clip and the data recovery clip, it's all in bounds.

[hidden]Feros
go talk to Fai Dan 
go to tunnels destroy transmitter and turn on a pump
do tower
return to Fai Dan, turn in Feros: Geth in the Tunnels
get Feros: Power Cells and Feros: Varren meat from Davin Reynolds and May O'Connell
Highway>get Feros: Data Recovery>exogeni>detatch dropship
Recover Data then clip down to mako
get back to zhu's hope
be sure to kill Davin Reynolds, May O'Connell and Macha Doyle
do feros clip instead of activating controls
beat thorian
turn in Data Recovery

Noveria
go talk to opold
get package
return package to opold
talk to anoleis
go to mezzanine
turn down Noveria: Espionage
talk to Lorik Qui'in
do synthetic insights
talk to giana at bar
do infinite renegade
get pass from qui'in
leave
natural route till rift station
talk to Dr Cohen
hack back door and go through
beat benezia
do hot labs
leave[/hidden]

Generally, quests are completed by simply activating them, and then proceeding to a point where they can no longer be completed, so they get marked as finished. There also isn't any sort of reasonable time saving clip from port hanshan mezzanine to sythetic insights/garage, so everything in port hanshann is in bounds.

Also, I have had double discovery work for me exactly once on the PC version. I'm going to assume that it's either easier based on how slow your computer is, or that they tried to fix it but didn't quite. I'd still like to proceed as if it didn't exist for the time being. There's still no consistent way to make it happen, even on console. The best thing to do would be to save the planets with the longest detours for last, and cut those resources out if we happen to get double discovery at some point.

AlecK47

2014-02-10 08:53:43 pm

Quote from your_name_here:

You could also bind "At BIOA_END00" to a key using the exact same method. Whether it's a bindable command is not the only consideration.

Didn't even know that was possible. I barely messed around with .ini rebinds before I switched to PC in this game.

I have the system optimization done but I ran into a couple issues, one of which is good for the run (assuming it's reliable). When I went through the game, I did Rayingri then Antibaar when doing UNC: Geth Incursions... and Grissom appeared then, before I even did Casbin. I'm not sure if this is a consistent thing or not yet, but if so it would alter the rare earths a bit.

That said, I also made a couple mistakes, one of which was forgetting to add a Turian Insignia back in to replace the one on Maji (which is ironically the fastest to add back in what with skipping the mission and all, and it has the bonus of giving you a quick Thorium), and the other being trusting a FAQ too much (it has some inconsistencies...). I have one more playthrough to go to get a perfect Femshep, so I'm going to sort it out as I do that. I'll include some info on the resources that add the most time to get as well once I post the (hopefully) final version.

[quote="your_name_here"]You could also bind "At BIOA_END00" to a key using the exact same method. Whether it's a bindable command is not the only consideration.[/quote]Didn't even know that was possible.  I barely messed around with .ini rebinds before I switched to PC in this game.

I have the system optimization done but I ran into a couple issues, one of which is good for the run (assuming it's reliable).  When I went through the game, I did Rayingri then Antibaar when doing UNC: Geth Incursions... and Grissom appeared then, before I even did Casbin.  I'm not sure if this is a consistent thing or not yet, but if so it would alter the rare earths a bit.

That said, I also made a couple mistakes, one of which was forgetting to add a Turian Insignia back in to replace the one on Maji (which is ironically the fastest to add back in what with skipping the mission and all, and it has the bonus of giving you a quick Thorium), and the other being trusting a FAQ too much (it has some inconsistencies...).  I have one more playthrough to go to get a perfect Femshep, so I'm going to sort it out as I do that.  I'll include some info on the resources that add the most time to get as well once I post the (hopefully) final version.

AlecK47

Edit history:

AlecK47: 2014-02-12 09:20:27 pm

AlecK47: 2014-02-12 09:19:51 pm

2014-02-12 03:15:09 pm

And it's done. It came together really nicely once I fixed the errors (all were from the FAQ, as it turns out Roll Eyes

).

Resource route organized by location:

Edit: if there is no direciton indicated for an initial planet/resource, that is the default point when you load the system

Argos Rho

Gorgon: Unidentified Space Facility, no resources in system
Hydra: up to Metgos (Thorium on way to transponder) and Canrum
Phoenix : Patashi, left to Tuntau (mission only), asteroid right of top in inner belt, up and right to Vebinok

Armstrong Nebula
Note: clearing the three of the four initial outposts in two specific orders lets you skip the fourth; this route should be optimal*
*glitches need a bit more testing though

1. Vamshi : Maji (get Thorium and Turian Insignia, back to Normandy, land again, Magnesium on way to mission), right to Pregel
2. Hong: down and right to Treagir, up left past sun to Matar, Casbin (Uranium after mission)
3. Tereshkova: Antibaar (Magnesium on way to mission – get even if mission is skipped), asteroid on right side of belt, up right to Patamalrus, up left to Thegeuse
4. Gagarin: Junthor, up and right to Antirumgon, skip Rayingri
5. Grissom: Benda, Zaherux just above, asteroid just right of top in outer belt, Solcrum (mission only)

Artemis Tau

Athens: up and right to Proteus, up and left to Circe, then down and to far left for Pharos
Knossos: asteroid at top of outer belt, Therum, asteroid on line between first asteroid and Therum
Macedon: Sharjila (mission only), up to Porolan, asteroid right of top
Sparta: asteroid at top of inner field, up and left to Alsages, down and left to Ontamalca, right to Edolus (ID Tag after Mission)

Attican Beta

Hercules: up and left to Syided, down and left to Eletania (mission only) and Zatorus (past Eletania)
Theseus: left (past Feros) to Sharring, Feros, Quana on far right*
*Because Feros is longer than most missions, it might be better to grab both Sharring and Quana either before or after Feros rather than forget one of them

Gemini Sigma

Han: Paravin, up and left to Patatanlis, right to Mavigon (Gold and ID Tag on way to mission)
Ming: MSV Worthington, then left to Parag and Altanorch

Hades Gamma

Antaeus: left and down to Vemal, up and right to Plobus, right to Edmos, right to Trebin (Plutonium on way to mission, Uranium after)
Cacus: Zayarter, up and left to Faringor, down and left to Chohe (mission only)
Dis: up to Nearrum and Raysha, down and right to Klensal (Platinum on way to mission, League Medallion after), asteroid right and slightly below Klensal
Farinata: left to MSV Ontario, up and left to Juntauma, asteroid above right side of inner belt, right and down to Nepneu
Plutus: Mingito, left to Clocrolis, left and down to Nonuel (League Medallion and Matriarch’s Writings, then Samarium on way to mission)

Hawking Eta

Century: up to Tharopto, asteroid above and right of Klendagon/Presrop, left to Canctra, right to Presrop (Gold after mission)

Horse Head Nebula

Fortuna: Maganlis, down to Therumlon, up and right to Amaranthine (Iridium and Turian Insignia on way to mission, Thorium after)
Pax: Noveria, writings from Veles (far left, past Noveria)
Strenuus: Yunthorl, left to Antitarra, up and right to MSV Majesty and Xawin (Turian Insignia, Cobalt and Palladium on way to mission)

Kepler Verge

Herschel: asteroid 45 degrees left of top of belt, down and right to MSV Fedele
Newton: Ontarom (Turian Insignia on way to mission, Palladium after), up to Klencory

Maroon Sea

Caspian: MSV Cornucopia, up to Antida, down and right to Clotanca and Farnuri
Matano: down and left to Supay, asteroid about 30 degrees above far left in outer belt, right past Apo to Chasca (Beryllium on way to mission, only Science Facility necessary), asteroid just above far right in inner belt
Vostok: up and right to Pataiton, asteroid just right of straight line from Pataiton to Nodacrux, then Nodacrux (mission only)

Styx Theta

Acheron: up and left to Altahe (Matriarch’s Writings on way to mission), asteroid above and left of Altahe, down and left to Grosalgen
Erebus: Nepmos (Palladium on way to mission, Titanium on way to mine), up and left to Wermani, right and down to Quaji

Voyager Cluster

Amazon: Agebinium (Turian Insignia after mission), up and left to Sonedma, up and right to Sybin, right to Tremar
Columbia: up and right to Ontaheter, left and down to Nepheron (ID Tag on way to mission), left to Gromar
Yangtze: down and right to Alrumter, back past Renshato to Binthu (ideal route here is a counterclockwise run from base to base, grab Uranium and Palladium on the way), left to Dregir, up and right to Patajiri

Slowest Acquired

Prothean Disc: N/A (all on galaxy map)
Matriarch’s Writings: Altahe (still directly on path, but Nonuel doesn’t require doing the minigame)
Turian Insignia: Ontarom
League Medallion: All but irrelevant. Klensal’s is right by a Heavy Metal and Nonuel’s is by a Matriarch’s Writings
ID Tag: Edolus (by far); fortunately talking to Admiral Kahoku about his men can be done late
Light Metal: Xawin or Chasca (Xawin would save more time, Chasca would save some tricky driving)
Heavy Metal: Amaranthine
Rare Earth: Amaranthine
Gas: N/A (all on galaxy map)

And while I'm at it, here's what you get from where.

I may have forgotten to remove a "possibly" or "maybe" in here, so if you see one ignore it.

Argos Rho

Gorgon: Unidentified Space Facility, no resources in system
Hydra: Turian Insignia, Planet: Rare Earth
Phoenix : Rare Earth, Prothean Disk, Light Metal

Armstrong Nebula
Note: clearing the three of the four initial outposts in two specific orders lets you skip the fourth; this route should be optimal*
*glitches need a bit more testing though

1. Vamshi : Turian Insignia, Planet: Rare Earth, Turian Insignia, Light Metal
2. Hong: Matriarch’s Writings, Light Metal, Planet: Rare Earth
3. Tereshkova: League Medallion, 2 Heavy Metal, Planet: Light Metal
4. Gagarin: Matriarch’s Writings, Light Metal, Planet: SKIP
5. Grissom: League Medallion, Light Metal, Rare Earth

Artemis Tau

Athens: 2 Gas, Turian Insignia
Knossos: League Medallion, Heavy Metal
Macedon: Light Metal, Matriarch’s Writings
Sparta: Prothean Disk, Rare Earth, Gas, Planet: Salarian ID Tag

Attican Beta

Hercules: Heavy Metal, League Medallion, Planet: NOTHING
Theseus: Light Metal, Prothean Data Disk
*Because Feros is longer than most missions, it might be better to grab both Sharring and Quana either before or after Feros rather than forget one of them

Gemini Sigma

Han: Matriarch’s Writings, Light Metal, Planet: Salarian ID Tag, Heavy Metal
Ming: Light Medal, League Medallion

Hades Gamma

Antaeus: Gas, Asari Writings, Rare Earth, Planet: 2 Rare Earth
Cacus: Heavy Metal, Rare Earth, Planet: NOTHING
Dis: 2 Light Metal, Turian Insignia, Planet: Heavy Metal, League Medallion
Farinata: Light Metal, Prothean Disk, Rare Earth
Plutus: 2 Rare Earth, Planet: Matriarch’s Writings, League Medallion, Rare Earth

Hawking Eta

Century: Heavy Metal, Light Metal, League Medallion, Planet: Heavy Metal

Horse Head Nebula

Fortuna: Turian Insignia, Rare Earth, Planet: Heavy Metal, Rare Earth, Turian Insignia
Pax: Matriarch’s Writings
Strenuus: League Medallion, Gas, Planet: Turian Insignia, Heavy Metal, Light Metal

Kepler Verge

Herschel: Heavy Metal
Newton: Writings, Planet: Turian Insignia, possible Heavy Metal

Maroon Sea

Caspian: 2 Heavy Metal, Turian Insignia
Matano: Heavy Metal, Light Metal, Prothean Disc, Planet: Light Metal
Vostok (Nodacrux): Heavy Metal, Matriarch’s Writings

Styx Theta

Acheron: Turian Insignia, Light Metal, Planet: Matriarch’s Writings
Erebus: Heavy Metal, Prothean Disc, Planet: Heavy Metal, Light Metal

Voyager Cluster

Amazon: Rare Earth, Gas, Turian Insignia, Planet: Turian
Columbia: Rare Earth, League Medallion, Planet: ID Tag
Yangtze: Light Metal, Rare Earth, Prothean Disc, Planet: Rare Earth, Heavy Metal

And yes, I did switch the order back around in the Armstrong Nebula, otherwise there would have been a Light Metal shortage that would have added an annoying amount of time. Fortunately, as much stuff as was on Rayingri, none of it was actually all that fast.

As for the glitchiness in UNC: Geth Incursions, I think the thing with getting the final base to unlock after only two planets had to do with some saving and loading I did (what I did was complex, but if it can be simplified and still work it would obviously save some time), but I'll have to test it, which I probably won't get to for a few days. Regardless, doing things in the order I mentioned a couple posts back didn't work for me when I did it this time, for whatever reason. So like I said in the route info in this post, the glitches need some testing.

And it's done.  It came together really nicely once I fixed the errors (all were from the FAQ, as it turns out ::) ).

Resource route organized by location:
[hidden]Edit: if there is no direciton indicated for an initial planet/resource, that is the default point when you load the system

[b]Argos Rho[/b]

Gorgon: Unidentified Space Facility, no resources in system
Hydra: up to Metgos (Thorium on way to transponder) and Canrum
Phoenix : Patashi, left to Tuntau (mission only), asteroid right of top in inner belt, up and right to Vebinok

[b]Armstrong Nebula[/b]
Note: clearing the three of the four initial outposts in two specific orders lets you skip the fourth; this route should be optimal*
*glitches need a bit more testing though

1. Vamshi : Maji (get Thorium and Turian Insignia, back to Normandy, land again, Magnesium on way to mission), right to Pregel
2. Hong: down and right to Treagir, up left past sun to Matar, Casbin (Uranium after mission)
3. Tereshkova: Antibaar (Magnesium on way to mission – get even if mission is skipped), asteroid on right side of belt, up right to Patamalrus, up left to Thegeuse
4. Gagarin: Junthor, up and right to Antirumgon, skip Rayingri
5. Grissom: Benda, Zaherux just above, asteroid just right of top in outer belt, Solcrum (mission only)

[b]Artemis Tau[/b]

Athens: up and right to Proteus, up and left to Circe, then down and to far left for Pharos
Knossos: asteroid at top of outer belt, Therum, asteroid on line between first asteroid and Therum
Macedon: Sharjila (mission only), up to Porolan, asteroid right of top
Sparta: asteroid at top of inner field, up and left to Alsages, down and left to Ontamalca, right to Edolus (ID Tag after Mission)

[b]Attican Beta[/b]

Hercules: up and left to Syided, down and left to Eletania (mission only) and Zatorus (past Eletania)
Theseus: left (past Feros) to Sharring, Feros, Quana on far right*
*Because Feros is longer than most missions, it might be better to grab both Sharring and Quana either before or after Feros rather than forget one of them

[b]Gemini Sigma[/b]

Han: Paravin, up and left to Patatanlis, right to Mavigon (Gold and ID Tag on way to mission)
Ming: MSV Worthington, then left to Parag and Altanorch

[b]Hades Gamma[/b]

Antaeus: left and down to Vemal, up and right to Plobus, right to Edmos, right to Trebin (Plutonium on way to mission, Uranium after)
Cacus: Zayarter, up and left to Faringor, down and left to Chohe (mission only)
Dis: up to Nearrum and Raysha, down and right to Klensal (Platinum on way to mission, League Medallion after), asteroid right and slightly below Klensal
Farinata: left to MSV Ontario, up and left to Juntauma, asteroid above right side of inner belt, right and down to Nepneu
Plutus: Mingito, left to Clocrolis, left and down to Nonuel (League Medallion and Matriarch’s Writings, then Samarium on way to mission)

[b]Hawking Eta[/b]

Century: up to Tharopto, asteroid above and right of Klendagon/Presrop, left to Canctra, right to Presrop (Gold after mission)

[b]Horse Head Nebula[/b]

Fortuna: Maganlis, down to Therumlon, up and right to Amaranthine (Iridium and Turian Insignia on way to mission, Thorium after)
Pax: Noveria, writings from Veles (far left, past Noveria)
Strenuus: Yunthorl, left to Antitarra, up and right to MSV Majesty and Xawin (Turian Insignia, Cobalt and Palladium on way to mission)

[b]Kepler Verge[/b]

Herschel: asteroid 45 degrees left of top of belt, down and right to MSV Fedele
Newton: Ontarom (Turian Insignia on way to mission, Palladium after), up to Klencory

[b]Maroon Sea[/b]

Caspian: MSV Cornucopia, up to Antida, down and right to Clotanca and Farnuri
Matano: down and left to Supay, asteroid about 30 degrees above far left in outer belt, right past Apo to Chasca (Beryllium on way to mission, only Science Facility necessary), asteroid just above far right in inner belt
Vostok: up and right to Pataiton, asteroid just right of straight line from Pataiton to Nodacrux, then Nodacrux (mission only)

[b]Styx Theta[/b]

Acheron: up and left to Altahe (Matriarch’s Writings on way to mission), asteroid above and left of Altahe, down and left to Grosalgen
Erebus: Nepmos (Palladium on way to mission, Titanium on way to mine), up and left to Wermani, right and down to Quaji

[b]Voyager Cluster[/b]

Amazon: Agebinium (Turian Insignia after mission), up and left to Sonedma, up and right to Sybin, right to Tremar
Columbia: up and right to Ontaheter, left and down to Nepheron (ID Tag on way to mission), left to Gromar
Yangtze: down and right to Alrumter, back past Renshato to Binthu (ideal route here is a counterclockwise run from base to base, grab Uranium and Palladium on the way), left to Dregir, up and right to Patajiri

[b]Slowest Acquired[/b]

Prothean Disc: N/A (all on galaxy map)
Matriarch’s Writings: Altahe (still directly on path, but Nonuel doesn’t require doing the minigame)
Turian Insignia: Ontarom
League Medallion: All but irrelevant.  Klensal’s is right by a Heavy Metal and Nonuel’s is by a Matriarch’s Writings
ID Tag: Edolus (by far); fortunately talking to Admiral Kahoku about his men can be done late
Light Metal: Xawin or Chasca (Xawin would save more time, Chasca would save some tricky driving)
Heavy Metal: Amaranthine
Rare Earth: Amaranthine
Gas: N/A (all on galaxy map)[/hidden]

And while I'm at it, here's what you get from where.
[hidden]I may have forgotten to remove a "possibly" or "maybe" in here, so if you see one ignore it.

[b]Argos Rho[/b]

Gorgon: Unidentified Space Facility, no resources in system
Hydra: Turian Insignia, Planet: Rare Earth
Phoenix : Rare Earth, Prothean Disk, Light Metal

[b]Armstrong Nebula[/b]
Note: clearing the three of the four initial outposts in two specific orders lets you skip the fourth; this route should be optimal*
*glitches need a bit more testing though

1. Vamshi : Turian Insignia, Planet: Rare Earth, Turian Insignia, Light Metal
2. Hong: Matriarch’s Writings, Light Metal, Planet: Rare Earth
3. Tereshkova: League Medallion, 2 Heavy Metal, Planet: Light Metal
4. Gagarin: Matriarch’s Writings, Light Metal, Planet: SKIP
5. Grissom: League Medallion, Light Metal, Rare Earth

[b]Artemis Tau[/b]

Athens: 2 Gas, Turian Insignia
Knossos: League Medallion, Heavy Metal
Macedon: Light Metal, Matriarch’s Writings
Sparta: Prothean Disk, Rare Earth, Gas, Planet: Salarian ID Tag

[b]Attican Beta[/b]

Hercules: Heavy Metal, League Medallion, Planet: NOTHING
Theseus: Light Metal, Prothean Data Disk
*Because Feros is longer than most missions, it might be better to grab both Sharring and Quana either before or after Feros rather than forget one of them

[b]Gemini Sigma[/b]

Han: Matriarch’s Writings, Light Metal, Planet: Salarian ID Tag, Heavy Metal
Ming: Light Medal, League Medallion

[b]Hades Gamma[/b]

Antaeus: Gas, Asari Writings, Rare Earth, Planet: 2 Rare Earth
Cacus: Heavy Metal, Rare Earth, Planet: NOTHING
Dis: 2 Light Metal, Turian Insignia, Planet: Heavy Metal, League Medallion
Farinata: Light Metal, Prothean Disk, Rare Earth
Plutus: 2 Rare Earth, Planet: Matriarch’s Writings, League Medallion, Rare Earth

[b]Hawking Eta[/b]

Century: Heavy Metal, Light Metal, League Medallion, Planet: Heavy Metal

[b]Horse Head Nebula[/b]

Fortuna: Turian Insignia, Rare Earth, Planet: Heavy Metal, Rare Earth, Turian Insignia
Pax: Matriarch’s Writings
Strenuus: League Medallion, Gas, Planet: Turian Insignia, Heavy Metal, Light Metal

[b]Kepler Verge[/b]

Herschel: Heavy Metal
Newton: Writings, Planet: Turian Insignia, possible Heavy Metal

[b]Maroon Sea[/b]

Caspian: 2 Heavy Metal, Turian Insignia
Matano: Heavy Metal, Light Metal, Prothean Disc, Planet: Light Metal
Vostok (Nodacrux): Heavy Metal, Matriarch’s Writings

[b]Styx Theta[/b]

Acheron: Turian Insignia, Light Metal, Planet: Matriarch’s Writings
Erebus: Heavy Metal, Prothean Disc, Planet: Heavy Metal, Light Metal

[b]Voyager Cluster[/b]

Amazon: Rare Earth, Gas, Turian Insignia, Planet: Turian
Columbia: Rare Earth, League Medallion, Planet: ID Tag
Yangtze: Light Metal, Rare Earth, Prothean Disc, Planet: Rare Earth, Heavy Metal[/hidden]

And yes, I did switch the order back around in the Armstrong Nebula, otherwise there would have been a Light Metal shortage that would have added an annoying amount of time.  Fortunately, as much stuff as was on Rayingri, none of it was actually all that fast.

As for the glitchiness in UNC: Geth Incursions, I think the thing with getting the final base to unlock after only two planets had to do with some saving and loading I did (what I did was complex, but if it can be simplified and still work it would obviously save some time), but I'll have to test it, which I probably won't get to for a few days.  Regardless, doing things in the order I mentioned a couple posts back didn't work for me when I did it this time, for whatever reason.  So like I said in the route info in this post, the glitches need some testing.

letterswords

2014-02-19 12:25:15 am

twitch.tv/letterswords

your_name_here, so I was thinking about maybe picking up this game again, and I was wondering what the new build you were thinking of going with for NG (vanguard) was , because I don't remember it too well and don't have the link you sent me anymore.

your_name_here

2014-02-19 09:52:11 pm

These were the levels I was thinking about, though I've been thinking of some changes since I've started doing practice for a potential marathon run:

http://imgur.com/a/kzCRe

In thinking up a marathon safe strat, I realized you can lose the extra point in pistols and the point in vanguard at level 3, then at level 4, you can take barrier, and have barrier for chora's den. Since you can do the tram at level 1 without losing time, you could instead take the first level up at 4, getting:

Pistols 3
Assault Training 3
Throw 1
Warp 4
Barrier 1
Singularity 1

Which is potentially equally fast, and safer. The safest thing would be to take a level up at 3 and 4, as you really only lose a couple seconds to pausing/unpausing, and it makes both the Eden Prime tram and Chora's den really easy.
With this build, you'd be losing the extra pistol damage, which is actually only relevant to a couple enemies before the two builds converge.

letterswords

2014-02-22 05:17:09 pm

twitch.tv/letterswords

A couple things I've noticed:

YNH, you mentioned that you weren't able to get singularity to hit both of the assassins you kill after leaving Chora's Den, but I sort of pulled this off a couple times (hit the first one and the other moved into the range of singularity), check http://www.twitch.tv/letterswords/b/505377141?t=54m55s

Also, I remember when back in like december when I was testing out lift against Saren at the end and it looked like we needed master lift to get it to work. I had a run earlier today where I was underleveled by one and didn't have enough points to max out lift and it looks like rank 9 might be enough because it worked against him. http://www.twitch.tv/letterswords/b/505562003?t=159m20s

Not sure that either of these change anything, but thought I would share.

your_name_here

2014-02-24 06:12:17 pm

Looks like you only need advanced lift for saren. Not sure what you'd take instead. You still need enough points in lift so that saren stays locked down long enough to get the damage in. My guess is that max lift is safest, but if you instead go for vanguard, you can make it slightly faster.

AlecK47

Edit history:

AlecK47: 2014-02-24 06:38:40 pm

2014-02-24 06:38:10 pm

In my (admittedly limited) low level experience, hitting the bare minimum for advanced lift works reasonably well if you go lift -> warp -> shoot and have Tali in your party. Though I can't remember just how much better it works assault rifles (which I used) than with pistols, if you have Liara along at the end it should work pretty well even with the lower weapon dps. If nothing else, a well-timed push can give you a few extra seconds too.

letterswords

Edit history:

letterswords: 2014-02-24 07:26:04 pm

2014-02-24 07:25:32 pm

twitch.tv/letterswords

Yeah, I figured that the extended duration with max lift might make it better. If you drop down to advanced lift from master you lose three seconds in duration while not gaining a ton of extra damage output (1% pistol damage per additional point in vanguard), which might not be enough to make up for the higher difficulty you have hitting him while lifted for less time.

letterswords

Edit history:

letterswords: 2014-03-02 06:32:09 pm

letterswords: 2014-03-02 06:31:53 pm

2014-03-02 06:29:49 pm

twitch.tv/letterswords

So I noticed not having taken the level up before the beginning of the benezia fight being problematic in my runs because it meant that I didn't have throw high enough to take down asari commandos because I didn't hit 8 to get the level up where I grab lift until the middle of the battle (two waves in). I instead decided dropping the extra point in pistols and the point in lift and just grabbing advanced throw pre-battle and that seemed to be serving me better than leveling up to grab lift even taking into account that I wouldn't have lift for benezia (throw worked just as well on her and I could just use adrenaline burst after using it so I have throw again for the asari commandos). Its possible it might be worth levelling up both before and during the battle, but doing only one before seemed fine.

your_name_here

2014-03-02 07:52:37 pm

advanced throw is definitely the most important part of that fight. That seems like a pretty good idea, if you aren't getting enough incidental experience.

letterswords

2014-03-03 07:46:50 pm

twitch.tv/letterswords

Also, another thing that I seem to have trouble with is on the out of bounds on the first visit to the citadel where you go from the embassy part of the presidium and land on the big bridge thing, I seem to quite often screw it up (probably due to the positioning where I save in). I often get a situation where Shepard is either running the wrong direction even if i hold D or holding D still causes me to fall short of landing on it. I guess I never learned what the exact key to it is, and was wondering what I might be doing wrong.

your_name_here

2014-03-03 08:44:20 pm

I doubt it's based on positioning. For me, it seems that if I hold D as the loading screen starts, then shepard doesn't move. So, I just have to make sure to not be pressing the button until the loading screen has started.

letterswords

2014-03-26 01:10:13 am

twitch.tv/letterswords

So uhhh this happened during a run today: http://www.twitch.tv/letterswords/c/3954761

hokorippoi

2014-03-26 09:44:03 pm

Skipping fight phases by despawning, maybe?
Maybe something like that can be done on thorian fight if so?

letterswords

2014-03-26 10:47:44 pm

twitch.tv/letterswords

Maybe. It's hard to say exactly what happened to be honest. My gut reaction was that somehow all the enemies got killed, but it is quite possible that they got despawned as well. Its hard to say, since when I've floated out of the map like that before I didn't get the same result. Maybe your_name_here has a better idea?

Also, I've recently made a tutorial on speedrunning this game: http://www.twitch.tv/letterswords/c/3952000 (part 1) and http://www.twitch.tv/letterswords/c/3959415 (part 2). Might as well put it here for anyone who might ever look at this thread.

your_name_here

2014-03-27 08:59:56 pm

You did go in a direction where you hit a loading trigger, which hasn't happened with that glitch before. If you unload the area with the enemies and then reload it, then you get advanced to the third phase of the fight.

letterswords

2014-03-28 12:54:58 am

twitch.tv/letterswords

Interesting. Even if it was faster (I lost time there, but it wasn't necessarily due to the Benezia fight), it would still be hard to do consistently.

letterswords

2014-04-09 10:49:09 pm

twitch.tv/letterswords

So I got a 1:43:08 NG time earlier tonight, which technically ties the world record. Since it was a pretty bad run (lost 50 seconds on Noveria plus like 20 on Saren) I probably won't try timing it down to fractions of a second to see which is technically faster and instead just shoot for a better time. http://www.twitch.tv/letterswords/c/4039749

letterswords

2014-04-16 09:42:04 pm

twitch.tv/letterswords

http://www.twitch.tv/letterswords/c/4080191 1:41:48 NG Run.

Also, your_name_here (or anyone really): I was thinking about picking up NG+, but have no idea where to start, especially as far as getting a save file, and maybe anything else I would need to know.