Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Any%?

2013-06-09 02:19:11 pm

There is always a way.

So I wrote up a route for this sometime last week. It's actually pretty basic, it just takes a lot of practice and a lot of luck to get a great time. I'm working on getting a 3ds capture board as soon as I can, after which I hope to stream some runs. Any% would run up until you beat Ceadeus, and can be timed using the in game time counter (save after the Ceadeus quest, then quit out). The timer cuts loading screens and maybe cutscenes (which arent skip-able anyway), though I don't know if it cuts when you pause, therefor pausing or closing your 3ds will be disqualification. 3DS and WiiU should work the same for in game time.

Anyone have thoughts on this run or have planned something similar in the past? I'm reluctant to share my notes until I've streamed my first run, but routing is pretty simple anyway.

Thread title:

Rezard

Edit history:

Rezard: 2013-06-12 04:01:18 am

2013-06-12 03:57:59 am

Meteor Swarm

Guess will be only village low rank quest ? .¨
As a monster hunter veteran , i was thiking of running mh , but it depend a lots on luck and item drop.

For weapon choice hammer seem to be the best.

Imho a multiplayer (different cathégory (2 or 3 or 4) up to miralis could be a better idea.

Method1cal

2013-06-13 04:11:31 am

Yes, low rank only, up until you beat Ceadeus.

My route uses minimal materials, so RNG wont be too bad. I don't use hammer though!

Rezard

2013-06-13 04:40:02 am

Meteor Swarm

bombing i guess is the best way , the peddler sell out scaterfish , you will only need a fast money farming way (like kelbi horn quest).
Geming for bombadier will be easy , just need the 5 slot for.
getting also trap master can give an insane speedrun , also a lbg that can shoot both para and sleep lv 1 shell can help.

Champloo

2013-06-13 10:17:46 pm

I feel like you'd make some complicated route then find some random RNG trick that cuts a ton of time out of the run. At least that's the paranoia that always goes in the back of my mind as I would route this if I were to be routing it.

Method1cal

2013-06-24 01:18:41 am

Actually, theres really not a lot in the way of RNG tricks. You just need to plan for needing as few materials as possible.

I can tell you out right that if you meant sleep bombing, thats out. Dropping some bombs at the start of the quest will always speed things up, but anything that requires as much prep as sleep bombing or gunning in general will never be fast enough. Remember that there is only one of you, and your not timing a single quest, I have no interest in those kinds of speed runs.

Method1cal

2013-08-06 01:49:52 pm

There is always a way.

I'll finally have a 3ds capture board in a couple of weeks, so runs are not that far off! =)

To start I'll be using Switch Axe since I'm comfortable with the weapon and Power Phials boost damage quite a lot, particularly early on. The upgrade path is also very convinient. I might try to route other weapons too eventually depending on how long the run is, I'm estimating 4-6 hours but I really have no idea.

-Ai-

Edit history:

-Ai-: 2013-10-21 01:00:28 am

-Ai-: 2013-10-21 12:58:09 am

-Ai-: 2013-10-21 12:56:43 am

-Ai-: 2013-10-21 12:55:20 am

2013-10-21 12:49:34 am

I've been planning this for the past fortnight without even checking the SDA board to see if there was any interest. Doesn't look like there is, but either way...

A point first - Something that was an obvious strat before even starting - I doubt bombing is the best way, certainly not for the beginning of the run. After testing, I'm pretty certain you wouldn't gain time through doing it later, either. It's worth remembering what effort you'd have to use for such a strat. First there's buying the materials. Scatterfish cost 300z, while barrel bombs cost either 250 from Granny, or 500z from the basic NPC, although, you're going to be combining anyway, and the cost to make 1 barrel bomb is 432z. Large barrel bomb+s do 150 damage each and can only be laid two at a time.
So, for your average monster in low rank (which has around 2000 HP as a ballpark figure) you would require 13 bomb+s ( again, this is just a rough estimate ) which would cost almost 7000z. Early on, you're just not going to have that cash to spend on every mission. The Kelbi mission would have to be done 8 times just to fund one run and would just be counter intuitive to just not using bombs at all. Then there's the actuality of using them in a mission. I've not tested this by any means, but I would suggest laying them and all the effort going toward combining would barely get you much under 5 minutes in a mission (gotta remember you're not gonna have the mats to spam traps here). most of the monster missions in Low rank can be completed in 10 using my route which requires very little out of the way farming, albeit a bit of luck.

The run I've come up with so far involves using the hammer. Now, I just want to say straight away I'm not a hammer elitist, because I prefer the GS. However, there's no denying that the hammer kills fast. it has mobility, can do well under water, can KO monsters for extra down time, and doesn't involve too much sharpening. The main reason for it's use, though, is it's the path with the easiest amount of farming with regards to a speed run. I aim for the Carapace Hammer ( Barroth ) which can be achieved without repeating a monster mission ( though it requires a bit of RNG luck ) I also go down the iron path for the war hammer just to make Peco, Ludroth, and Barroth less tedious. I don't farm for any armor. I use leather up until the powderstone quest where I buy Lac Loc, then buy Alloy from the vendor for the remainder of the run. ( handy, as it has speed sharpen and rubs out the negative affinity of my hammer )

It's late now so I can't go into details ( I'll edit later to explain my route ) however, I've come to realize there's a couple of stages that cripple the run, in terms of single segment optimization.

1st - Monster Guts quest. Not such a biggy to reset on seen as it's early on. Basically, I try and get Sharqskin here, which is required later on in the run. If the monsters don't put out after 2 zone re-enters, I kinda feel like resetting.

2nd - Carpenterbugs for Carapace Hammer. This isnt too much of a big deal, as it wouldn't only take 2 minutes to moga free hunt for them. But I kinda feel like they should be attained while progressing normally.

3rd - Getting 2Monster Bone +'s - This is the first major cripple. If I don't get Carapace Hammer before the 2nd Lagi urgent, the run suffers immensely time wise. 10 minutes at least. Gobul and Rathian drop them beforehand, and at times I've seen two appear in rewards. If I only have one, I may consider a second Rathian fight, for reasons obvious below.

4th - Rath Talons. The major crippler. 2 are required to progress the game later on. Rathian and Rathalos both drop, however, with a 70% chance. The big problem though, especially with hammer, is you have to break the wings. Doing so requires a tedious fight bouncing all over the place as oppose to just sniping headshots with SP. However, if I do get a Talon on Rathian, but still require a Monster Bone+, a redo might be a good idea as a safety net for the required talons. I'd be wasting about 8 minutes just to save the 10 minutes it takes on Lagi without Carapace Hammer, but, honestly, I'd rather have an easy under water Lagi fight. After the Lagi fight, though, it should be guranteed that I have enough Monster Bone+s by then, so I'm in two minds.

I've been planning this for the past fortnight without even checking the SDA board to see if there was any interest. Doesn't look like there is, but either way...

A point first - Something that was an obvious strat before even starting - I doubt bombing is the best way, certainly not for the beginning of the run. After testing, I'm pretty certain you wouldn't gain time through doing it later, either. It's worth remembering what effort you'd have to use for such a strat. First there's buying the materials. Scatterfish cost 300z, while barrel bombs cost either 250 from Granny, or 500z from the basic NPC, although, you're going to be combining anyway, and the cost to make 1 barrel bomb is 432z. Large barrel bomb+s do 150 damage each and can only be laid two at a time. 
So, for your average monster in low rank (which has around 2000 HP as a ballpark figure) you would require 13 bomb+s ( again, this is just a rough estimate ) which would cost almost 7000z. Early on, you're just not going to have that cash to spend on every mission. The Kelbi mission would have to be done 8 times just to fund one run and would just be counter intuitive to just not using bombs at all. Then there's the actuality of using them in a mission. I've not tested this by any means, but I would suggest laying them and all the effort going toward combining would barely get you much under 5 minutes in a mission (gotta remember you're not gonna have the mats to spam traps here). most of the monster missions in Low rank can be completed in 10 using my route which requires very little out of the way farming, albeit a bit of luck.

The run I've come up with so far involves using the hammer. Now, I just want to say straight away I'm not a hammer elitist, because I prefer the GS. However, there's no denying that the hammer kills fast. it has mobility, can do well under water, can KO monsters for extra down time, and doesn't involve too much sharpening. The main reason for it's use, though, is it's the path with the easiest amount of farming with regards to a speed run. I aim for the Carapace Hammer ( Barroth ) which can be achieved without repeating a monster mission ( though it requires a bit of RNG luck ) I also go down the iron path for the war hammer just to make Peco, Ludroth, and Barroth less tedious. I don't farm for any armor. I use leather up until the powderstone quest where I buy Lac Loc, then buy Alloy from the vendor for the remainder of the run. ( handy, as it has speed sharpen and rubs out the negative affinity of my hammer )

It's late now so I can't go into details ( I'll edit later to explain my route ) however, I've come to realize there's a couple of stages that cripple the run, in terms of single segment optimization.

1st - Monster Guts quest. Not such a biggy to reset on seen as it's early on. Basically, I try and get Sharqskin here, which is required later on in the run. If the monsters don't put out after 2 zone re-enters, I kinda feel like resetting.

2nd - Carpenterbugs for Carapace Hammer. This isnt too much of a big deal, as it wouldn't only take 2 minutes to moga free hunt for them. But I kinda feel like they should be attained while progressing normally.

3rd - Getting 2Monster Bone +'s - This is the first major cripple. If I don't get Carapace Hammer before the 2nd Lagi urgent, the run suffers immensely time wise. 10 minutes at least. Gobul and Rathian drop them beforehand, and at times I've seen two appear in rewards. If I only have one, I may consider a second Rathian fight, for reasons obvious below.

4th - Rath Talons. The major crippler. 2 are required to progress the game later on. Rathian and Rathalos both drop, however, with a 70% chance. The big problem though, especially with hammer, is you have to break the wings. Doing so requires a tedious fight bouncing all over the place as oppose to just sniping headshots with SP. However, if I do get a Talon on Rathian, but still require a Monster Bone+, a redo might be a good idea as a safety net for the required talons. I'd be wasting about 8 minutes just to save the 10 minutes it takes on Lagi without Carapace Hammer, but, honestly, I'd rather have an easy under water Lagi fight. After the Lagi fight, though, it should be guranteed that I have enough Monster Bone+s by then, so I'm in two minds.

-Ai-

2013-10-22 05:24:25 pm

After a further three runs I've come to the conclusion Carapace Hammer isn't worth it. It seems obtaining the Barroth Scalps (2) in one run is actually rather unlikely, I just got lucky on previous runs. It seems the only viable path is going down the iron route, which I assume could apply to any weapon type, although some types have egregious amounts of required Pelagicite Ore. Ice Crystals can be bought from granny, and Machalite isn't much of a problem if you spam the zone 12 mining spot during quests. Issisium is the main pain. They can be mined during the G.Baggi quest and Urukkusu, but it ends up being a hastle, and I had to do a gather quest to get a further 2.

In the end, it seems worthwhile. I don't think getting the Issisium equates to anything more than 10 minutes. Hunting an extra Barroth certainly would, plus all the other stuff required for its path. Also, Frozen Core's kill time compared to the Carapace on Dobobelk seemed just as good.

Rath talons are still going to be the thing that makes the run 10 or 20 minutes longer than it should. It's quite sickening really, considering you won't know if you've lucked out until 4+ hours in on the Rathalos fight.

After a further three runs I've come to the conclusion Carapace Hammer isn't worth it. It seems obtaining the Barroth Scalps (2) in one run is actually rather unlikely, I just got lucky on previous runs. It seems the only viable path is going down the iron route, which I assume could apply to any weapon type, although some types have egregious amounts of required Pelagicite Ore. Ice Crystals can be bought from granny, and Machalite isn't much of a problem if you spam the zone 12 mining spot during quests. Issisium is the main pain. They can be mined during the G.Baggi quest and Urukkusu, but it ends up being a hastle, and I had to do a gather quest to get a further 2.

In the end, it seems worthwhile. I don't think getting the Issisium equates to anything more than 10 minutes. Hunting an extra Barroth certainly would, plus all the other stuff required for its path. Also, Frozen Core's kill time compared to the Carapace on Dobobelk seemed just as good.

Rath talons are still going to be the thing that makes the run 10 or 20 minutes longer than it should. It's quite sickening really, considering you won't know if you've lucked out until 4+ hours in on the Rathalos fight.

-Ai-

Edit history:

-Ai-: 2013-10-23 04:45:52 pm

2013-10-23 04:43:22 pm

So, after a relatively casual run with a few things still not figured out, the in game time stands at 5:53 before the Ceadeus fight, (If you exclude 2 extra Rathian fights I had to do for Talons, you could call it 5:33) although I failed to one cycle him.

I'm not even sure what's the best strategy here, as I barely ever hunted him in the past. I know to break his beard straight off, then use the dragonator to break the horn, but, largely because of how ineffective Frozen Core is, I timed out. Maybe Ballista's are the way to go, but with gathering etc, I kinda assumed just meleeing was better, like it was in HR with Goldbeard.

This is where the carapace hammer would've come in. I'm down nearly 50 raw damage from missing it, and, to add further insult to injury, I actually carved 2 Uragaan Scutes, which would have meant I could've upgraded to carapace hammer +... which adds a whopping 100 raw. Now, would spending 10 minutes on the extra Barroth have been worthwhile? I would say probably so, seen as a lot of people claim doing the Ceadeus quest within 25 minutes is possible. And there's the odd minute I would have saved on the other quests while having said hammer as opposed to Frozen Core.

But, that's the run in a nutshell. I kind of agreed that the RNG wouldn't be too bad, but I'm changing my mind. It's heavily reliant on RNG in single segment, and I don't really have an interest in segmenting it.

So, sub 6:00 is pretty much certain. I seem to recall a pretty awful Gobul and G.Baggi fight where ten minutes could be saved. Pretty sure times on every other monster could have been improved by a minute or two, perhaps more as after Dobobelk, I'd ran out of thunderbugs for capture. However, I would say sub 5:00 is pushing it.

So, after a relatively casual run with a few things still not figured out, the in game time stands at 5:53 before the Ceadeus fight, (If you exclude 2 extra Rathian fights I had to do for Talons, you could call it 5:33)  although I failed to one cycle him.

I'm not even sure what's the best strategy here, as I barely ever hunted him in the past. I know to break his beard straight off, then use the dragonator to break the horn, but, largely because of how ineffective Frozen Core is, I timed out. Maybe Ballista's are the way to go, but with gathering etc, I kinda assumed just meleeing was better, like it was in HR with Goldbeard.

This is where the carapace hammer would've come in. I'm down nearly 50 raw damage from missing it, and, to add further insult to injury, I actually carved 2 Uragaan Scutes, which would have meant I could've upgraded to carapace hammer +... which adds a whopping 100 raw. Now, would spending 10 minutes on the extra Barroth have been worthwhile? I would say probably so, seen as a lot of people claim doing the Ceadeus quest within 25 minutes is possible. And there's the odd minute I would have saved on the other quests while having said hammer as opposed to Frozen Core.

But, that's the run in a nutshell. I kind of agreed that the RNG wouldn't be too bad, but I'm changing my mind. It's heavily reliant on RNG in single segment, and I don't really have an interest in segmenting it.

So, sub 6:00 is pretty much certain. I seem to recall a pretty awful Gobul and G.Baggi fight where ten minutes could be saved. Pretty sure times on every other monster could have been improved by a minute or two, perhaps more as after Dobobelk, I'd ran out of thunderbugs for capture. However, I would say sub 5:00 is pushing it.

Method1cal

2013-10-27 05:15:33 pm

There is always a way.

Personally, I'm still looking at the Switch Axe, though I've come up with my own problems in the process. Most of which are Jumbo Bones and Killer Beetles. It seems really uncommon to get 2 Jumbo Bones from a single Arzuros, let alone the 3 I need and Killer Beetle's will require at least one Harvest Tour to the Flooded Forest, but I think the extra time is worth it in the end. Though after that I shouldn't have too much problem getting the materials.

I had not looked in to where to get the Sharq Skin yet, so I'll have to check out the Monster Guts quest. I didn't know Sharq's spawned on that quest.

I like Alloy as far as the armor goes, but it might be worth considering Great Jaggi if you happen across the 2 required King's Frills. You can pick up one in the required quest as well as one through free hunt on the Queropeco, I wouldn't bother killing the free hunt one if you don't get a Frill from the first though, of course.

As far as bombing goes it really doesn't take much extra time to drop 3 large barrel bombs in your pouch for each quest, and Zenny is a large non-issue since you know what pieces you'll need and just sell everything else in the rewards. It's also worth taking a trip to Granny go-to in the Marina as soon as you can to pick up some Farcasters which come in handy for a number of quests.

Traps are really useful for ending quests quicker than normal, capping shaves up to 5 minutes off most quests so all my extra thunder bugs go to shock traps. Again, you have plenty of cash to fuel this.

I didn't expect Rath Talon's would be any issue, but now that you mention it they certainly aren't quite as common as I had probably thought. It's also worth noting that we need 2 Gigginox hides but are never required to hunt a Gigginox so we could save time if we stumbled across one in another quest such as Lagombi or Great Baggi.

The more I play with the Switch Axe route though, the slower it feels. I originally chose Switch Axe because the Power Phial gives you such a big boost early on but it's turning out to be a bigger pain to upgrade than I thought and even loses the Power Phial shortly after Barroth (albeit for a Para Phial which is still pretty legit). I'm probably going to look at some alternative weapon routes and maybe even think about mixing multiple weapon paths if I find it to be convenient. We might end up with a very specific route, though the weapons used are still very reliant on what the player is comfortable with.

I believe my current routing file is on or just finished the 3 star urgent at around 2:28ish IGT.

Personally, I'm still looking at the Switch Axe, though I've come up with my own problems in the process. Most of which are Jumbo Bones and Killer Beetles. It seems really uncommon to get 2 Jumbo Bones from a single Arzuros, let alone the 3 I need and Killer Beetle's will require at least one Harvest Tour to the Flooded Forest, but I think the extra time is worth it in the end. Though after that I shouldn't have too much problem getting the materials.

I had not looked in to where to get the Sharq Skin yet, so I'll have to check out the Monster Guts quest. I didn't know Sharq's spawned on that quest.

I like Alloy as far as the armor goes, but it might be worth considering Great Jaggi if you happen across the 2 required King's Frills. You can pick up one in the required quest as well as one through free hunt on the Queropeco, I wouldn't bother killing the free hunt one if you don't get a Frill from the first though, of course.

As far as bombing goes it really doesn't take much extra time to drop 3 large barrel bombs in your pouch for each quest, and Zenny is a large non-issue since you know what pieces you'll need and just sell everything else in the rewards. It's also worth taking a trip to Granny go-to in the Marina as soon as you can to pick up some Farcasters which come in handy for a number of quests.

Traps are really useful for ending quests quicker than normal, capping shaves up to 5 minutes off most quests so all my extra thunder bugs go to shock traps. Again, you have plenty of cash to fuel this.

I didn't expect Rath Talon's would be any issue, but now that you mention it they certainly aren't quite as common as I had probably thought. It's also worth noting that we need 2 Gigginox hides but are never required to hunt a Gigginox so we could save time if we stumbled across one in another quest such as Lagombi or Great Baggi.

The more I play with the Switch Axe route though, the slower it feels. I originally chose Switch Axe because the Power Phial gives you such a big boost early on but it's turning out to be a bigger pain to upgrade than I thought and even loses the Power Phial shortly after Barroth (albeit for a Para Phial which is still pretty legit). I'm probably going to look at some alternative weapon routes and maybe even think about mixing multiple weapon paths if I find it to be convenient. We might end up with a very specific route, though the weapons used are still very reliant on what the player is comfortable with.

I believe my current routing file is on or just finished the 3 star urgent at around 2:28ish IGT.

-Ai-

2013-10-28 01:54:27 am

RE Jaggi Armor, I'm not sure the extra 10 (or 15, which would require extra farming for the gemming) attack is worth the time for farming. How many average Jaggi hunts are we talking to obtain it? Regardless, it's surprising how negligible it is. I don't know the exact math, but it would only equate to needing several more hits on a monster. Same applies for might seeds. I'm still pondering over whether these are worth it or not. Alloy only comes later, but I seem to recalls 10 affinity having the same overall *potential* damage output. It's also worth noting I stick with leather for faster farming. I'm also not sure whether Lac Loc is worth it. It's 45 seconds faster, but you'd be using near that to go out of your way to buy it.

Half way in, I'm starting to think bombing is the way to go, as you will generally have enough money. using 10 LBB+ on Los shaved about 5 minutes on my average time, which will make visiting the Granny after every quest worth it, but, again, we're relying on RNG here as far as her stock goes.

Straight away I sell all my equipment apart from what I'm using and buy various stuff depending on what she has. Bomb casings, farcasters, psychoserum, exciteshrooms, thunderbugs, dung bombs etc.

The run's got a bit more complex now I've realized bombing is viable, so it looks like more work is required, as I'm really slow at menu/combining. And, as laughable as it sounds, the quest that gives me the most problems is Gobul, due to his erratic zoning patterns.

my average time before starting the 3* urgent is about 1:55.

RE Jaggi Armor, I'm not sure the extra 10 (or 15, which would require extra farming for the gemming) attack is worth the time for farming. How many average Jaggi hunts are we talking to obtain it? Regardless, it's surprising how negligible it is. I don't know the exact math, but it would only equate to needing several more hits on a monster. Same applies for might seeds. I'm still pondering over whether these are worth it or not. Alloy only comes later, but I seem to recalls 10 affinity having the same overall *potential* damage output. It's also worth noting I stick with leather for faster farming. I'm also not sure whether Lac Loc is worth it. It's 45 seconds faster, but you'd be using near that to go out of your way to buy it.

Half way in, I'm starting to think bombing is the way to go, as you will generally have enough money. using 10 LBB+ on Los shaved about 5 minutes on my average time, which will make visiting the Granny after every quest worth it, but, again, we're relying on RNG here as far as her stock goes.

Straight away I sell all my equipment apart from what I'm using and buy various stuff depending on what she has. Bomb casings, farcasters, psychoserum, exciteshrooms, thunderbugs, dung bombs etc.

The run's got a bit more complex now I've realized bombing is viable, so it looks like more work is required, as I'm really slow at menu/combining. And, as laughable as it sounds, the quest that gives me the most problems is Gobul, due to his erratic zoning patterns.

my average time before starting the 3* urgent is about 1:55.

BladeChild

Edit history:

BladeChild: 2013-11-30 03:49:51 pm

2013-11-30 03:47:03 pm

I made some progress on this a few days ago. That is to say I managed to get across the finish line with a time of 5:34 (rt)

The videos on Twitch are a bit jumbled as I'm still working on optimizing the capture card and getting my internet to not drop frames. http://www.twitch.tv/bladechild/b/483068189 is from an hour in (Ludroth) and continues all the way to the finish.

I was actually happy with this purely for the realization that sub 5:00 is not only possible, but extremely likely even without optimal performance, as the completed run I did was borderline terrible. Amongst various monstrosities, I had fights like Peco and Barroth last 10 minutes. I completely choked on Gobul, for whatever reason thinking he was ready for being capped (Not capping Gobul wastes a hell of a lot of time ). The second Lagia urgent was a complete mess and I carted twice, though, I blame stun rng and an abusive attack pattern, not to mention the BS that happened when he limped. If you only watch one part of the video, make it the last 5 mins of that fight. It's pretty amusing. It's as If Lagia's A.I had a complete brainfreeze.
The run also included both of the big rng fails. I got no Sharqskins early on and probably wasted 6 or 7 minutes with that. I had to redo a Rathian fight for a talon. Just about 10 minutes wasted. My menu and quest navigation was sub par throughout, When first using the bombing strats on Volvidon I completely panicked and made a complete mess, and there was a part before the Ancient Mask where I just plain forgot what to do. My play with the hammer was a bit off as well, as I had just started to mix in new combo strats, and still have a hard time kicking old casual habits like rolling out of TP instead of insta charging SP.

As of now, my sum of best splits comes to 5:05, which possesses no data from after the Duramboros fight, excluding the splits obtained from the completed run. Going on what happened after Duram in the run, I would say 20 minutes could easily be saved, as bombing this time round did me absolutely no favors.

I want to attack this again and get sub 5:00. But after that, after experience, I have to wander if the game is worth running seriously. If a decent optimal run was ever achieved, to get a new PB you'd be relying on the rng drops, something that takes 4 hours into the run to even know. Even resetting on the Sharqskin 20 minutes in would be quite annoying, as the drop rate is only 22%. Usually you only get about 5 carve attempts before the situation just isn't optimal anymore. Having to redo Rathian would certainly be a run killer when your PB was based on a run with rng success. And then there's Granny Peddler luck. Aside from basic stuff like Bomb Casings, which can either be bought outright, or obtained by mixing stuff from the other generated stocks, there's two rarer items you will need from her: Thunderbugs (for capturing) and Scatterfish. (bombs) Gunpowder isn't an issue as it can be mixed from NitroShrooms and Fire Herbs, which are found in other stock rotations.
Law of averages would suggest you'd get both at one stage. But it all depends on how often you check, and at what point you get them. You can usually last until Barroth without ever finding a Thunderbug (farm spider webs during Blacksmith tutorialf request for Pitfalls) but if you don't have them for Gobul, well, you're s*** outta luck. And Scatterfish are the other way around. Find 'em in-stock early and they're no good, because you don't have the cash. Generally, you can't afford a decent amount for the rest of the game until after the Duramboros fight.

And if you don't find any for the Ceadeus fight, then, well, you are outta luck.

edit - FYI, the in game timer is completely bogus and I doubt it should be used. The save file ends up being 10-20 minutes longer than in realtime. How that works out, I don't know.

I made some progress on this a few days ago. That is to say I managed to get across the finish line with a time of 5:34 (rt)

The videos on Twitch are a bit jumbled as I'm still working on optimizing the capture card and getting my internet to not drop frames. http://www.twitch.tv/bladechild/b/483068189 is from an hour in (Ludroth) and continues all the way to the finish.

I was actually happy with this purely for the realization that sub 5:00 is not only possible, but extremely likely even without optimal performance, as the completed run I did was borderline terrible. Amongst various monstrosities, I had fights like Peco and Barroth last 10 minutes. I completely choked on Gobul, for whatever reason thinking he was ready for being capped (Not capping Gobul wastes a hell of a lot of time ). The second Lagia urgent was a complete mess and I carted twice, though, I blame stun rng and an abusive attack pattern, not to mention the BS that happened when he limped. If you only watch one part of the video, make it the last 5 mins of that fight. It's pretty amusing. It's as If Lagia's A.I had a complete brainfreeze.
The run also included both of the big rng fails. I got no Sharqskins early on and probably wasted 6 or 7 minutes with that. I had to redo a Rathian fight for a talon. Just about 10 minutes wasted. My menu and quest navigation was sub par throughout, When first using the bombing strats on Volvidon I completely panicked and made a complete mess, and there was a part before the Ancient Mask where I just plain forgot what to do. My play with the hammer was a bit off as well, as I had just started to mix in new combo strats, and still have a hard time kicking old casual habits like rolling out of TP instead of insta charging SP.

As of now, my sum of best splits comes to 5:05, which possesses no data from after the Duramboros fight, excluding the splits obtained from the completed run. Going on what happened after Duram in the run, I would say 20 minutes could easily be saved, as bombing this time round did me absolutely no favors.

I want to attack this again and get sub 5:00. But after that, after experience, I have to wander if the game is worth running seriously. If a decent optimal run was ever achieved, to get a new PB you'd be relying on the rng drops, something that takes 4 hours into the run to even know. Even resetting on the Sharqskin 20 minutes in would be quite annoying, as the drop rate is only 22%. Usually you only get about 5 carve attempts before the situation just isn't optimal anymore. Having to redo Rathian would certainly be a run killer when your PB was based on a run with rng success. And then there's Granny Peddler luck. Aside from basic stuff like Bomb Casings, which can either be bought outright, or obtained by mixing stuff from the other generated stocks, there's two rarer items you will need from her: Thunderbugs (for capturing) and Scatterfish. (bombs) Gunpowder isn't an issue as it can be mixed from NitroShrooms and Fire Herbs, which are found in other stock rotations.
Law of averages would suggest you'd get both at one stage. But it all depends on how often you check, and at what point you get them. You can usually last until Barroth without ever finding a Thunderbug (farm spider webs during Blacksmith tutorialf request for Pitfalls)  but if you don't have them for Gobul, well, you're s*** outta luck. And Scatterfish are the other way around. Find 'em in-stock early and they're no good, because you don't have the cash. Generally, you can't afford a decent amount for the rest of the game until after the Duramboros fight.

And if you don't find any for the Ceadeus fight, then, well, you are outta luck.

edit - FYI, the in game timer is completely bogus and I doubt it should be used. The save file ends up being 10-20 minutes longer than in realtime. How that works out, I don't know.

Method1cal

2013-12-08 02:02:05 pm

There is always a way.

That's because the game timer cuts loading screens and cutscenes.

Sounds like my original estimate of 4 hours wasn't too far off! I haven't got to do much routing myself, I've been busy with other stuff. I'm looking at doing an RTA late next month, I'll be sure to watch your run as well. Cheesy

BladeChild

Edit history:

BladeChild: 2013-12-09 01:23:11 am

2013-12-09 01:21:28 am

Forgive my ignorance if I'm wrong, but surely the save file would be shorter as oppose to longer? Considering the game doesn't count the intro as time passing, I'm a bit confused as to how it works.

Method1cal

2013-12-09 07:04:15 am

There is always a way.

Huh, it ends up being longer? I really have no idea. I know that if you watch the seconds on Quest Status count down on Tri(?) they move slightly faster than 1:1, so that may be the issue. It could certainly build up a large gap over 5 hours.

BladeChild

2013-12-09 08:13:26 am

Yeah, about 20 minutes I think it was.

I think whatever happens, it is consistent. The save file after the Gobul fight usually ends up being 8 minutes ahead. So that would appear to scale correctly.