PSO ep1

Edit history:

JoChi: 2008-05-01 08:05:32 am

2008-05-01 08:01:35 am

Sword first appears in forest boss boxes (which apparently get cave drops or something).
But that doesn't matter, you only need multi-target weapon starting from cave boss.

For GC & Xbox ver, a Ranger can equipped partisan, which appears in mine. But the equipping requirement is very high for ranger's ATP. There's no chance a ranger can equip it w/out major level griding and such stuff. Even HuCt can't equipped it as soon as it appears, that's how high the equipping requirement is.

Yeah, i could use rw, but the thing about rw is that you can only re-record them so many times before they stop working. The worst part is you won't know exactly when they will stop working until they stop working. And when they stop working, it's very difficult or next to impossible to retreat data on it. Cost-wise it's still cheaper to record on rw than r, but the last thing I want is to finally get a successful run, only to have the disk crap out on me when it's finishing up. And since I am using a normal memory card, I can't repeat level once I decide to keep it.

But it's probably just me being paranoid :P. I'll use rw once this patch of dvd is used up.

Sword first appears in forest boss boxes (which apparently get cave drops or something).  
But that doesn't matter, you only need multi-target weapon starting from cave boss.

For GC & Xbox ver, a Ranger can equipped partisan, which appears in mine.  But the equipping requirement is very high for ranger's ATP.  There's no chance a ranger can equip it w/out major level griding and such stuff.  Even HuCt can't equipped it as soon as it appears, that's how high the equipping requirement is.

Yeah, i could use rw, but the thing about rw is that you can only re-record them so many times before they stop working.  The worst part is you won't know exactly when they will stop working until they stop working.  And when they stop working, it's very difficult or next to impossible to retreat data on it.  Cost-wise it's still cheaper to record on rw than r, but the last thing I want is to finally get a successful run, only to have the disk crap out on me when it's finishing up.  And since I am using a normal memory card, I can't repeat level once I decide to keep it.

But it's probably just me being paranoid :P.  I'll use rw once this patch of dvd is used up.

Sorcerer88

2008-05-01 03:29:43 pm

I have no solution, but i admire the problem.

Hmm.. a difficult choice. I've been using the same RW for 1-2 years, but since i use a hdd recorer, i don't burn it that often. I suggest you google the expected number of rewrites for your RW.

Also, i wanted to let you know there are still people following your efforts, good luck!

Btw: Brightstar, I'd love to see a new run from you!

Brightstar

2008-05-03 11:00:15 pm

I just did a trial run. Lets just say it smashes your Force run to pieces.

Caos2

2008-05-05 09:45:41 pm

Lurkin' and watching!

Quote:

I just did a trial run. Lets just say it smashes your Force run to pieces.

O.o

Now that's something I'd like to see.

-C2

dexter

2008-05-05 11:18:52 pm

Did you use a hunter or a ranger? I did some testing myself and ranger should be faster. There are very few places before ruins where a sword helps when you can ohko almost all enemies and with a shot drop from vol opt ruins are significantly faster. You can also use a handgun from the beginning.

D A P

2008-05-06 05:37:56 am

Quote:

I just did a trial run. Lets just say it smashes your Force run to pieces.

What changes did you make compared to your old run?

JoChi

2008-05-08 08:54:14 am

dexter, when you say shot makes ruins significantly faster, is that from personal experience, or just gut feeling?

Also, the word "faster" implies you are comparing it to something, are you comparing to a hunter's ruin run, or ranger's ruin run w/o shot?

i thought shot's ata is so terrible, you barely hit even w/ ranger's ata. And when you do hit, shot's atp + ranger's atp is so low it does next to no damage? Not to mention you can't use the full combo safely unless you fire from the maximum possible range. And when you are done w/ that full combo, you barely have enough time to get away from the enemy. Did they fix all that in ep I&II?

dexter

2008-05-08 11:23:16 am

That statement was solely for a run using the glitch that allows one to equip multiple weapons (and gaining all bonuses). With this a hunter / ranger run is easily faster than my force run since you can easily ohko most enemies (not worth it to boost attack high enough to ohko pan arms for instance), kill de rol le when he gets on the raft for the first time, destroy vol opt in 1-2 rounds, have your fun with mechguns on Dark Falz, etc.

ATA is no problem since it is boosted by sabers so you can clean many rooms with a single shot. This is much faster than running to enemies or herding them to take them out with a sword. (I tested it)

If anyone attempts a ranger run without this glitch: vol opt drops ??-shots so you could probably get one with elemtal damage. I have no idea how much damage this deals to ruins monsters but ATA will probably be a problem with special attacks. There are also many monsters who are not resistant to fire / ice (whatever you choose; should be different from your rifle) so I doubt this would be faster than a hunter, but who knows.

That statement was solely for a run using the glitch that allows one to equip multiple weapons (and gaining all bonuses). With this a hunter / ranger run is easily faster than my force run since you can easily ohko most enemies (not worth it to boost attack high enough to ohko pan arms for instance), kill de rol le when he gets on the raft for the first time, destroy vol opt in 1-2 rounds, have your fun with mechguns on Dark Falz, etc.

ATA is no problem since it is boosted by sabers so you can clean many rooms with a single shot. This is much faster than running to enemies or herding them to take them out with a sword. (I tested it)

If anyone attempts a ranger run without this glitch: vol opt drops ??-shots so you could probably get one with elemtal damage. I have no idea how much damage this deals to ruins monsters but ATA will probably be a problem with special attacks. There are also many monsters who are not resistant to fire / ice (whatever you choose; should be different from your rifle) so I doubt this would be faster than a hunter, but who knows.

JoChi

Edit history:

JoChi: 2008-05-08 05:32:49 pm

2008-05-08 05:26:15 pm

lol wat? how do you do this multiple weapon equipting glitch? a link would be nice.

also, ice elemental doesn't deal damage, it just freezes the enemy.

dexter

Edit history:

dexter: 2008-05-08 06:07:22 pm

2008-05-08 06:05:54 pm

Basically you use the dupe glitch method to open item screen and weapon shop and exploit the "do you want to equip the weapon" question to equip two items at the same time. Repeat and rinse for fun and profit. You can even equip other weapons (one at a time) to replace whatever you bought with better stuff. The last equipped weapon is swapped out when you use the quick menu and decides what attack / movement animation is used (although you see all weapons). That way you can easily get a shot or mechgun with the power of 10 inferno bazookas.

Ironically, this was described in the first page about the dupe glitch DAP posted but I somehow read over it.
This works also with armors but who needs an armor when you kill everything before they can land their first hit? (including DF)

Quote:

also, ice elemental doesn't deal damage, it just freezes the enemy.

Yes, of course :-[
A lightning damage rifle would do very little damage against De Rol Le so if anyone ever attempted such a run he should probably go for two shots.

Basically you use the dupe glitch method to open item screen and weapon shop and exploit the "do you want to equip the weapon" question to equip two items at the same time. Repeat and rinse for fun and profit. You can even equip other weapons (one at a time) to replace whatever you bought with better stuff. The last equipped weapon is swapped out when you use the quick menu and decides what attack / movement animation is used (although you see all weapons). That way you can easily get a shot or mechgun with the power of 10 inferno bazookas.

Ironically, this was described in the first page about the dupe glitch DAP posted but I somehow read over it.
This works also with armors but who needs an armor when you kill everything before they can land their first hit? (including DF)

[quote]also, ice elemental doesn't deal damage, it just freezes the enemy.[/quote]

Yes, of course  :-[
A lightning damage rifle would do very little damage against De Rol Le so if anyone ever attempted such a run he should probably go for two shots.

D A P

2008-05-09 05:49:33 am

Wow, this glitch really does open up lots of possibilities!
All we need to do now if figure out what glitch method to use on which character.

And as far as doing the dupe-glitch on the Dreamcast, door-walking, and anything else Brightstar may be planning, it looks like he is the only one in here with a DC. So, sorry we can't help test with you Brightstar, but it'd be nice if you shared your progress like us -dexter & JoChi.

dexter, to do the multi-equip glitch don't you have to BUY each weapon you want to equip?
Do you believe this glitch will result with the fastest times?
Are you saying a Ranger (RAcast?) using multi-equip looks to be the fastest choice?
Does that mean you will choose the fastest character or stay with your FOnew?

I feel kinda bad letting you do all the work, I'm trying to think of ways I can help you. ...

dexter

2008-05-10 05:01:12 pm

Quote:

dexter, to do the multi-equip glitch don't you have to BUY each weapon you want to equip?

Yes, but with the money dupe glitch this is no problem.

Quote:

Do you believe this glitch will result with the fastest times?

Yes, easily.

Quote:

Are you saying a Ranger (RAcast?) using multi-equip looks to be the fastest choice?

Not sure which classes can use a shot right after vol opt. Other attributes don't matter much. Money duplication is marginally slower for androinds since their traps always show up in the item screen (money duplication works best with only two items; you can press down down instead of up up down in the "main loop"; see my video) but seeing traps is certainly comfortable.

Quote:

Does that mean you will choose the fastest character or stay with your FOnew?

Not sure.

D A P

2008-05-13 01:03:55 pm

dexter, I need your help, I can't get the multi-equip glitch to work.
I've tried all the ways I can think of equipping two weps at once.
What do you do once you have the Weapon Shop Menu open and able to walk around?

dexter

2008-05-13 04:35:49 pm

Here is a video:

http://www.wongr.net/dexter/pso/pso1-equip-glitch.mp4

I do a "clean" version of the glitch two times followed by the "button mashing" version which lets you equip only half of the weapons you buy (probably still faster). You can do the button mashing faster but sometimes the menus get out of sync (with careful timing it might be possible to exploit this to end up with 100% equipped weapons). This is followed by a poorly executed trip to ruins. The number of visible weapons is limited so I drop some stuff to show off a red blue double saber Smiley

The unequipped brands clutter my quick menu (the equipped brands are hidden) but in a run you could drop stuff you don't need while walking around and in a ranger run you wouldn't need to change weapons very often anyway.

D A P

Edit history:

D A P: 2008-05-28 11:27:06 am

2008-05-14 01:27:31 pm

Thank you very much dexter!

I'll will be doing some extensive testing using the money-dupe and then equip-glitch with a new RAcast today.

We need to know (minimums):
[list]

How much money will be needed to dupe (dedicate segment#1 for this job only?) for the whole run to buy Sabers for multi-equip.

If Sabers cost $615 at Lv.1 how much do they cost before Ruins at ~Lv.12?
At the Wep Shop, Sabers switch to Brands at Lv.11, Units also become available to buy at Lv.11, and Brands cost ~2200 (Brand+4 = ~2400). 90 ATP needed for a Brand / 85 ATA for Shot; RAcast at Lv.13 = 82 ATP / 84 ATA.

When should we restart the money-dupe? ex: If we need $30,000 for the whole run, you would need to dupe your starting $300 (though you won't need your other items right, so selling everything but your Handgun would get you $396) 100 times to get that much. If you restart when you have $1500 ($1980) then you would need to dupe 20 (15 times) more times.
It would save more time to make the '# of dupes' to halves wouldn't it? Duping $396 8 times, then $3168 9 times; that's 17 dupes instead of 20 (or 100!).

How many Sabers do we need before each Area to OHKO each enemy and one Round each boss?
You would pretty much have to fill your inventory with Sabers to OHKO every enemy, still some would not die from one normal attack.
Therefore I think it'd be best to equip enough to kill the majority, and the rest can be finished off with a hard attack.
Recommended amount of Saber+2's (Brand+2's for Ruins):
Forest = 9
Cave = 11
Mine = 14
Ruin = 21
You'd need about $70,000 for all those; that would be 14 dupes of $396 then 13 dupes with the $5544 to get $72072.

EDIT: In my current test run with a RAcast LV.8, I am at Mines without a Shot and game timer is 31mins.

(Do you see breaks between each bullet? There should be one, I see it in my post and in the 'Live Preview' above, but not on the actual post)

EDIT: Dang, I did a test run with the name 1, ID is WHITLL, which is worst for finding Shots -didn't find one-, VIRIDIA ID (name as 2) is best.

EDIT: You are right JoChi, these questions can be solved with math from the data at PSO-world (assuming it is correct as well as the Damage Calculator) and what we already know (though I need to test more to find prices).

p.s.: This dupe-glitch speedrun is actually really fun to do, because the skill is no longer on patience of luck manipulating to get the items needed, but now the skill is on the quickness of the fingers to use this glitch :] this will be a great speedrun to watch!

Thank you very much dexter!

I'll will be doing some extensive testing using the money-dupe and then equip-glitch with a new RAcast today.

[u]We need to know (minimums):[/u]
[list][*]How much money will be needed to dupe (dedicate segment#1 for this job only?) for the whole run to buy Sabers for multi-equip.

[*]If Sabers cost $615 at Lv.1 how much do they cost before Ruins at  ~Lv.12?
At the Wep Shop, Sabers switch to Brands at Lv.11, Units also become available to buy at Lv.11, and Brands cost ~2200 (Brand+4 = ~2400).  90 ATP needed for a Brand / 85 ATA for Shot; RAcast at Lv.13 = 82 ATP / 84 ATA.

[*]When should we restart the money-dupe? ex: If we need $30,000 for the whole run, you would need to dupe your starting $300 (though you won't need your other items right, so selling everything but your Handgun would get you $396) 100 times to get that much.  If you restart when you have $1500 ($1980) then you would need to dupe 20 (15 times) more times.
It would save more time to make the '# of dupes' to halves wouldn't it?   Duping $396 8 times, then $3168 9 times; that's 17 dupes instead of 20 (or 100!).

[*]How many Sabers do we need before each Area to OHKO each enemy and one Round each boss?
You would pretty much have to fill your inventory with Sabers to OHKO  every enemy, still some would not die from one normal attack.
Therefore I think it'd be best to equip enough to kill the majority, and the rest can be finished off with a hard attack.
Recommended amount of Saber+2's (Brand+2's for Ruins):
Forest = 9
Cave = 11
Mine = 14
Ruin = 21
You'd need about $70,000 for all those; that would be 14 dupes of $396 then 13 dupes with the $5544 to get $72072.

EDIT: In my current test run with a RAcast LV.8, I am at Mines without a Shot and game timer is 31mins.

(Do you see breaks between each bullet?  There should be one, I see it in my post and in the 'Live Preview' above, but not on the actual post)

EDIT: Dang, I did a test run with the name [b]1[/b], ID is WHITLL, which is  worst for finding Shots -didn't find one-, VIRIDIA ID (name as [b]2[/b]) is best.

EDIT: You are right JoChi, these questions can be solved with math from the data at PSO-world (assuming it is correct as well as the Damage Calculator) and what we already know (though I need to test more to find prices).

p.s.: This dupe-glitch speedrun is actually really fun to do, because the skill is no longer on patience of luck manipulating to get the items needed, but now the skill is on the quickness of the fingers to use this glitch :]  this will be a great speedrun to watch!

JoChi

Edit history:

JoChi: 2008-05-14 09:07:59 pm

2008-05-14 09:05:43 pm

In general, the amount of time depends on both room count and amount of enemy waves in each room.

BTW, some of the map on PSO-world has some minor error, like having a locked door when there shouldn't, and vice versa.

For Forest2, pattern 2 only have one extra room than pattern 1, and total enemy count (that you need to kill to advance) is 1 less than pattern 1. Both are contender for fastest map.

Offline, you cannot get variation 2 map in cave I think. You couldn't in earlier version of PSO, and neither dextor nor I have gotten them in our testruns.

The map w/ the fewest room in cave are: 1-2-1, 2-1-1, and 3-1-1 (area-pattern-variation)

The quickest route in Mine 2 should be 2-2-1, both in room and enemy count.

Ruins 1-1-1 and 1-2-2 have fewer rooms than 1-3-2, but both have the highest enemy count of all Ruins1. While 1-3-2 have the fewest enemy count of all Ruins1 map. So I would stick with that map. I tried to avoid counting optional enemies when I can.

Ruins 2-1-1 and 2-2-2 has the fewest room but not the least amount of enemy. 2-3-1 was the best map for me.
(I didn't get 2-1-2)

The quickest map in Ruins3 should be 3-2-1, in both room and enemy count.

As for the fastest way to gain money, it almost sound like there should be a way to calculate exactly those amount. But I can't quite figure out the detail yet. We'll also need to know the amount of time needed to restart the duping process.

In general, the amount of time depends on both room count and amount of enemy waves in each room.

BTW, some of the map on PSO-world has some minor error, like having a locked door when there shouldn't, and vice versa.

For Forest2, pattern 2 only have one extra room than pattern 1, and total enemy count (that you need to kill to advance) is 1 less than pattern 1.  Both are contender for fastest map.

Offline, you cannot get variation 2 map in cave I think.  You couldn't in earlier version of PSO, and neither dextor nor I have gotten them in our testruns.

The map w/ the fewest room in cave are: 1-2-1, 2-1-1, and 3-1-1 (area-pattern-variation)

The quickest route in Mine 2 should be 2-2-1, both in room and enemy count.

Ruins 1-1-1 and 1-2-2 have fewer rooms than 1-3-2, but both have the highest enemy count of all Ruins1.  While 1-3-2 have the fewest enemy count of all Ruins1 map.  So I would stick with that map.  I tried to avoid counting optional enemies when I can.

Ruins 2-1-1 and 2-2-2 has the fewest room but not the least amount of enemy.  2-3-1 was the best map for me.
(I didn't get 2-1-2)

The quickest map in Ruins3 should be 3-2-1, in both room and enemy count.

As for the fastest way to gain money, it almost sound like there should be a way to calculate exactly those amount.  But I can't quite figure out the detail yet.  We'll also need to know the amount of time needed to restart the duping process.

D A P

Edit history:

D A P: 2008-05-28 11:34:26 am

2008-05-28 11:33:49 am

Thank you JoChi.

In case you didn't see my edited post on the previous page...

Shots must be a lot rarer than Swords and Partisans, because I haven't found one in Mines yet, searching at Lv.8-11

Also, starting Mines at Lv.8 is a problem since you can't buy Units until Lv.11 and you need Units to boost ATA to 85 to equip a Shot... oh yeah... the Mag, we could level that creature for stats we'll need.

dexter

2008-05-28 12:40:53 pm

AFAIK shots don't appear until vol opt. Your level doesn't matter. You should use a viridia section id to maximize your chances to get a shot (see http://www.pso-world.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=452).

IIRC a RAmar has enough ATA to equip a shot at level 12 but I am not sure. If you want to see mines maybe a RAcaseal is enough. If you are just a few points short you can raise your mag. You can buy units beginning at level 11 (although you won't see a shop until level 12 / after beating vol opt) but you might want to avoid the additional luck manipulation at the beginning of the ruins segment if possible.

JoChi

Edit history:

JoChi: 2008-06-18 01:16:50 am

2008-06-17 02:10:55 am

Sorry for not updating for so long. Got good news and bad news.

The good news is the hunter run for GC is done, unless the verifiers claim the quality isn't good enough or something. Here are the time:

Final time: 2:23:xx
Current total time (segment time):
seg.1: character creation and forest - 13
seg.2: cave - 58(45)
seg.3: mine - 1:31(33)
seg.4: shopping - 1:33(2)
seg.5: ruins - 2:23(50)

I think it's possible to lose 5-10 minutes more if I am a more dedicated runner. But this is as much time as I will put into this run for now.

The bad news is I can't give nate the files yet due to circumstances beyond my control (well, sort of). So it will be awhile before this run get posted.

dexter

2008-06-17 04:32:36 am

Congrats, can't wait to see the run. Smiley

It is significantly faster than the 2:30 estimated earlier and *much* faster than the old hunter run (whatever the difference between door walking and mines might be).

Do you have by chance the boss times available?

D A P

2008-06-17 10:37:29 am

Very cool JoChi, looks like a very good Hunter time, i'm excited to see your run!
I thought that was your run I saw on the verification list. So people must have had dibs to verify it or something because it was gone in less than a day.

JoChi

Edit history:

JoChi: 2008-06-19 04:06:18 am

2008-06-18 10:19:51 pm

Quote from dexter:

Do you have by chance the boss times available?

I only remember Cave boss took 17 minutes and Ruins boss took 6.5 minutes off the top of my head.
I'll edit this post once I checked the other two.

edit:
Forest: 2.5min.
Cave: 15min.
Mines: under 7min.
Ruins: 6min.

JoChi

Edit history:

JoChi: 2008-08-08 03:09:50 pm

2008-08-08 02:27:43 pm

FYI my run is now in the verification process. With any luck it will be up on the site sooner or later.
~~Unless, of course, the video or gameplay quality isn't good enough or something.~~ I'll stop the pessimistic talk now...

D A P

Edit history:

D A P: 2008-08-12 06:28:47 pm

2008-08-12 06:06:07 pm

Here is a 'multi-wep-eqp glitch test speedrun' I did a few months ago, from character creation to Mines (31mins):

Money dupe:
Forest:
Cave1-2:
Cave2-boss:

Sub 1 hour might not be possible without a multi-HIT weapon.
It is really hard to imagine whether a Rangers high ATA (long range attacks and less misses) or Hunters early multi-HIT wep availability would be faster.
I'm leaning towards the Hunter because the enemies run towards you anyways, so you reall don't lose much time running to the enemies when you are usually running toward the next door in the process of killing.

dexter

2008-08-13 09:02:20 pm

JoChi: Hope your run is up soon Smiley

DAP:
I hope you plan to follow that up with a real run Smiley

Here are my comments:

segment 1:
- The glitch setup can be a little faster (if you are really patient) but that b**** can be a real pain, especially when you need to do the setup the second time...
- The actual money duplication looks very good. It would be a little faster to do more duplications in the first round though.

segment 2:
- It is faster to lure the woman to the armor shop and then "transfer" to the weapon shop. You have to change the button sequence a little to make sure that you end up with the weapon shop window. IIRC it works like this (typing from memory):
1) return to the buy/sell menu in the armor shop, run to the weapon shop
2) hit A. weapon shop menu should show buy/sell; armor shop menu should show the item list
3) hit A. ws menu: item list / as menu: "really buy?" or "don't enough money"
4) if you have enough money press down ("no"). hit A. ws menu: "really buy?" / as menu: item list
5) since you are now in a "deeper" sub menu in the weapon shop you can hit B until the armor shop menu gets closed

- I assume that you didn't try very hard to make the fights / rooms as fast as possible (this is only a test run after all). There are a few minor mistakes but the biggest improvement would probably be in the room with the monolith. There are two independent "lines" of monster spawns but only one is relevant. That means that you can do other stuff like activating the terminal when the important monsters spawn. You need to kill only the following groups: 1 gobooma, 1 savage wolf, 1 gigobooma, 1 hildebear.
if you leave the rappy alone bigger groups won't get in your way. Furthermore, you should trigger the monest early by walking near the force field so you don't have to wait for it in the next room.

- good idea to run to the teleporter while dragon is landing to die

segment 3:
(note: I havent watched everything in detail yet but there are few shortcuts anyway)

- The caves 1 map is pretty much the slowest IIRC. If you do a run you should make new timings since what is fastest for a level 4 FOnl is not necessarily the best for you but the map is long and has many enemies.

- You should probably merge the forest and cave segments. Including additional loading time for the segment the weapon setup costs you roughly 2 minutes. This shouldn't be as painful as it sounds since there is no big difference between the cave 2 maps and there is only one bad cave 3 map you can get. Furthermore, a 20 seconds slower map would still be much better than a 120 seconds slower setup.

- You should probably have more sabers for De Rol Le. It would be interesting to see how much additional damage one saber gives and to calculate what the optimal number would be (compared to the time it takes to equip a saber). He should definitely be killed while he is on the draft the first time

About hunter vs. ranger: I am still sure that a ranger would be faster.
- The only place where a sword would really speed things up is against De Rol Le. There are very few enemy groups that spawn close enough together that you can kill them in one swing and are on the way to the next room.
- A sword swing is much slower so it wouldn't be worth it against only two enemies.
- When you fight two or more enemies at close range (so you have to aim between handgun shots) you can usually run towards the room exit (or whereever you have to go), turn around and kill them with a few quick shots without losing time.
- If you luck manipulate a sword drop (either from dragon or in caves) you would probably not merge the forest and cave segments, losing a lot of time.
- Ruins
- Ruins
- Ruins are *so* much faster with a shot. Many big rooms and many enemy groups that are too scattered to kill them quickly with a sword but are still close enough to hit them with a shot. This alone would probably make up for not having an early sword.

I tested a lot of stuff when I considered doing a glitched force run but I must admit that I got demotivated when I realized how much faster a glitched ranger run would be. A force run would be just a little faster since spells are not affected but a ranger totally breaks the game. (Who needs enough HP for heaven punishment when you can totally slaughter Dark Falz with a mechgun? ;))

However, I really hope that you make this run. I still have a lot of notes and I would help with timing, room tactics, looking for shortcuts etc.

Maybe I should start thinking about a new NG+ forest run again. I have an old video with several improvements over my last run but I didn't post it since it contains several ugly mistakes that cost 1-2 seconds each. However, since you shared your old test run I decided to post it as well:

http://www.wongr.net/dexter/pso/pso1-ng+-forest-413.mp4

JoChi: Hope your run is up soon :)

DAP:
I hope you plan to follow that up with a real run :)
Here are my comments:

segment 1:
- The glitch setup can be a little faster (if you are really patient) but that b**** can be a real pain, especially when you need to do the setup the second time...
- The actual money duplication looks very good. It would be a little faster to do more duplications in the first round though.

segment 2:
- It is faster to lure the woman to the armor shop and then "transfer" to the weapon shop. You have to change the button sequence a little to make sure that you end up with the weapon shop window. IIRC it works like this (typing from memory):
  1) return to the buy/sell menu in the armor shop, run to the weapon shop
  2) hit A. weapon shop menu should show buy/sell; armor shop menu should show the item list
  3) hit A. ws menu: item list / as menu: "really buy?" or "don't enough money"
  4) if you have enough money press down ("no"). hit A. ws menu: "really buy?" / as menu: item list
  5) since you are now in a "deeper" sub menu in the weapon shop you can hit B until the armor shop menu gets closed

- I assume that you didn't try very hard to make the fights / rooms as fast as possible (this is only a test run after all). There are a few minor mistakes but the biggest improvement would probably be in the room with the monolith. There are two independent "lines" of monster spawns but only one is relevant. That means that you can do other stuff like activating the terminal when the important monsters spawn. You need to kill only the following groups: 1 gobooma, 1 savage wolf, 1 gigobooma, 1 hildebear.
if you leave the rappy alone bigger groups won't get in your way. Furthermore, you should trigger the monest early by walking near the force field so you don't have to wait for it in the next room.

- good idea to run to the teleporter while dragon is landing to die

segment 3:
(note: I havent watched everything in detail yet but there are few shortcuts anyway)

- The caves 1 map is pretty much the slowest IIRC. If you do a run you should make new timings since what is fastest for a level 4 FOnl is not necessarily the best for you but the map is long and has many enemies.

- You should probably merge the forest and cave segments. Including additional loading time for the segment the weapon setup costs you roughly 2 minutes. This shouldn't be as painful as it sounds since there is no big difference between the cave 2 maps and there is only one bad cave 3 map you can get. Furthermore, a 20 seconds slower map would still be much better than a 120 seconds slower setup.

- You should probably have more sabers for De Rol Le. It would be interesting to see how much additional damage one saber gives and to calculate what the optimal number would be (compared to the time it takes to equip a saber). He should definitely be killed while he is on the draft the first time

About hunter vs. ranger: I am still sure that a ranger would be faster.
- The only place where a sword would really speed things up is against De Rol Le. There are very few enemy groups that spawn close enough together that you can kill them in one swing and are on the way to the next room.
- A sword swing is much slower so it wouldn't be worth it against only two enemies.
- When you fight two or more enemies at close range (so you have to aim between handgun shots) you can usually run towards the room exit (or whereever you have to go), turn around and kill them with a few quick shots without losing time.
- If you luck manipulate a sword drop (either from dragon or in caves) you would probably not merge the forest and cave segments, losing a lot of time.
- Ruins
- Ruins
- Ruins are *so* much faster with a shot. Many big rooms and many enemy groups that are too scattered to kill them quickly with a sword but are still close enough to hit them with a shot. This alone would probably make up for not having an early sword.

I tested a lot of stuff when I considered doing a glitched force run but I must admit that I got demotivated when I realized how much faster a glitched ranger run would be. A force run would be just a little faster since spells are not affected but a ranger totally breaks the game. (Who needs enough HP for heaven punishment when you can totally slaughter Dark Falz with a mechgun? ;))

However, I really hope that you make this run. I still have a lot of notes and I would help with timing, room tactics, looking for shortcuts etc.

Maybe I should start thinking about a new NG+ forest run again. I have an old video with several improvements over my last run but I didn't post it since it contains several ugly mistakes that cost 1-2 seconds each. However, since you shared your old test run I decided to post it as well:

http://www.wongr.net/dexter/pso/pso1-ng+-forest-413.mp4