Got a HotU run. Attempt #10, sub 1:30!
Not sure about Chapter 2 routing yet, it will probably change a lot. The general idea is that I have to glitch money with Appraise, buy good equipment plus somehow finish the Beholder fight with the help of my teammates. I seem to backtrack the same places a lot, I think it can be optimised somehow.
The general theme in this run is you're so underleveled you can't do a thing, but luckily there are 20/- damage resistance belts available from Chapter 2. Mephistopheles is a pretty insane fight to even try so instead I glitch even more money in Chapter 3, buy his True Name, and make the last Guardian instead be my final boss.
How the Appraise glitch works: there's a d10+X die roll against your Appraise skill made each time you for the first time visit a store. I have to grind it a little in order to get the best rolls. Then with enough skill with certain traders you can buy an item cheaper than you sold it to the person, thus generating money. In order to maximise the %profit I make each trade, I need to have certain items that sell close to the maximum buy value the trader has. (All traders have a maximum buy value of 10k in Chapter 2, 50k in Chapter 3.) This is why I buy the helmet in Chapter 3 in order to speed things up.
I tried skipping Mimic and the first Guardian but they seem to really be impossible to skip. First Guardian gives you the skill to be an Earth Elemental after he dies which is needed with the catapult in the end. Meh. Forgot to buy another armour for Mimic to devour so I could be hasted in his lair, but forgot. Oh well.
Hope you like!
http://pastebin.com/z6f8yiKG
Not sure about Chapter 2 routing yet, it will probably change a lot. The general idea is that I have to glitch money with Appraise, buy good equipment plus somehow finish the Beholder fight with the help of my teammates. I seem to backtrack the same places a lot, I think it can be optimised somehow.
The general theme in this run is you're so underleveled you can't do a thing, but luckily there are 20/- damage resistance belts available from Chapter 2. Mephistopheles is a pretty insane fight to even try so instead I glitch even more money in Chapter 3, buy his True Name, and make the last Guardian instead be my final boss.
How the Appraise glitch works: there's a d10+X die roll against your Appraise skill made each time you for the first time visit a store. I have to grind it a little in order to get the best rolls. Then with enough skill with certain traders you can buy an item cheaper than you sold it to the person, thus generating money. In order to maximise the %profit I make each trade, I need to have certain items that sell close to the maximum buy value the trader has. (All traders have a maximum buy value of 10k in Chapter 2, 50k in Chapter 3.) This is why I buy the helmet in Chapter 3 in order to speed things up.
I tried skipping Mimic and the first Guardian but they seem to really be impossible to skip. First Guardian gives you the skill to be an Earth Elemental after he dies which is needed with the catapult in the end. Meh. Forgot to buy another armour for Mimic to devour so I could be hasted in his lair, but forgot. Oh well.
Hope you like!
http://pastebin.com/z6f8yiKG