Xenoblade Chronicles

2015-06-25 03:34:35 am

I still think completing all character's skill branches should be possible in a decent time, so we could put that on maybe IMO.

Anyway I have no idea how long such a run would be but it's gonna be really long. It should be done in less than 100 hours, but I think more than 50, even wit a proper routing. I pretty much expect this to be as long as Animal Crossing 10%, which has been attempted RTA and succeded in 60-70 hours. However it's really different from Xenoblade 100% since you can actually route it with a lot of detail, to have a really optimized route... I say a route because obviously you could have a lot of different route considering the amount of objectives to complete.

MLSTRM

2015-07-20 09:11:37 pm

You can never run enough games

Hey guys, I started running this game recently, and I thought I'd just say some things along the lines of longer categories.

Something that me and legrandgrand talked about a bit in my stream, is "All Quests, Unique Monsters and Colony 6 Restoration" (Yeah its a bad name, but think of it more as a description), while not 100%, it would be an interesting category that's more inclusive than a normal RTA, but without having to grind excessively to complete the objectives set out in the current 100% discussion. If nothing else, considering things from this perspective helps to clear up some of the goal discussion that zarsejm posted.

With clever routing, something like this could be extended to include the following goals:
a) Beat the game (Defeat Zanza III)
b) Killing every UM (obviously)
c) Skill Branches/Arts (Done by completing all quests)
d) 5* Affinity with all areas (Point 1 below)
e) Complete all Quests (again, a given)
f) Fill the collectopaedia (Point 2 below)
---
g1) Complete affinity between all party members (Not sure about this due to how affinity works)
g2) Complete all heart-to-hearts (However, this seems somewhat reasonable if it can be worked into a route easily)
h) Fill out maps (Free easy experience, and you go most places anyway for quests/UMs, should be easy to work in at least)
--
i) Every advanced art book (Obtaining them seems reasonable if we have the money for it, although doesn't seem that necessary to a completion-based category imo, also opens the door to "Why don't you get all armour/gems/etc" comments)
j) Every achievement (Point 3 below)
k) Complete skill branches (seems like a lot of un-necessary grinding for SP and gives no reward, I don't agree with this)
--
l) Level up arts (I agree, nope)
m) Every NPC Affinity link (Required by achievements, but a lot of work on its own. Would help with area affinity though)
--
I agree with all of the no items being no, so I won't cover them
--
s) Colony 6 Reconstruction (again, explicit in name)
t) Visit all High-Entia Secret Locations (Could be done as part of h)

[This obviously covers the first list of goals, but since the second list is just re-ordered, you can still see my thoughts on each]

1 - Not completed explicitly, not entirely sure how area affinity works. Quests would go some way to completing this, but probably not enough to fill it out.
2 - While not done explicitly, it would be fairly easy to implement into a route, and trading would help with both this and area affinity (1).
3 - Achievements include: (b), (j), 120 people on affinity chart, affinity ties, (d), (g2), (e), Colony 6 reconstruction

So, just from those 3 goals listed in the name, you actually complete most of the goals people suggested, with the obvious omission being affinity-based goals. If nothing else, it would be easier to create a route from this base and then adapt it for affinity with areas/NPCs to extend it outwards, so perhaps its something to bear in mind or at least consider.
Keeping strictly with the name's description, you complete a, b, c, e, s - it would be easy to include h, f, t - You wouldn't do d, g, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r

Hopefully this dump of ideas makes sense. As someone who's done All Achievements speedruns for Final Fantasy XIII, I would definitely be up for running something along these lines if we can route it down under 30 hours or so.

Hey guys, I started running this game recently, and I thought I'd just say some things along the lines of longer categories.

Something that me and legrandgrand talked about a bit in my stream, is "All Quests, Unique Monsters and Colony 6 Restoration" (Yeah its a bad name, but think of it more as a description), while not 100%, it would be an interesting category that's more inclusive than a normal RTA, but without having to grind excessively to complete the objectives set out in the current 100% discussion. If nothing else, considering things from this perspective helps to clear up some of the goal discussion that zarsejm posted.

With clever routing, something like this could be extended to include the following goals: 
a) Beat the game (Defeat Zanza III)
b) Killing every UM (obviously)
c) Skill Branches/Arts (Done by completing all quests)
d) 5* Affinity with all areas (Point 1 below)
e) Complete all Quests (again, a given)
f) Fill the collectopaedia (Point 2 below)  
---
g1) Complete affinity between all party members (Not sure about this due to how affinity works)
g2) Complete all heart-to-hearts (However, this seems somewhat reasonable if it can be worked into a route easily)
h) Fill out maps (Free easy experience, and you go most places anyway for quests/UMs, should be easy to work in at least)
--
i) Every advanced art book (Obtaining them seems reasonable if we have the money for it, although doesn't seem that necessary to a completion-based category imo, also opens the door to "Why don't you get all armour/gems/etc" comments)
j) Every achievement (Point 3 below)
k) Complete skill branches (seems like a lot of un-necessary grinding for SP and gives no reward, I don't agree with this)
--
l) Level up arts (I agree, nope)
m) Every NPC Affinity link (Required by achievements, but a lot of work on its own. Would help with area affinity though)
--
I agree with all of the no items being no, so I won't cover them
--
s) Colony 6 Reconstruction (again, explicit in name)
t) Visit all High-Entia Secret Locations (Could be done as part of h)

[This obviously covers the first list of goals, but since the second list is just re-ordered, you can still see my thoughts on each]

1 - Not completed explicitly, not entirely sure how area affinity works. Quests would go some way to completing this, but probably not enough to fill it out.
2 - While not done explicitly, it would be fairly easy to implement into a route, and trading would help with both this and area affinity (1).
3 - Achievements include: (b), (j), 120 people on affinity chart, affinity ties, (d), (g2), (e), Colony 6 reconstruction

So, just from those 3 goals listed in the name, you actually complete most of the goals people suggested, with the obvious omission being affinity-based goals. If nothing else, it would be easier to create a route from this base and then adapt it for affinity with areas/NPCs to extend it outwards, so perhaps its something to bear in mind or at least consider.
Keeping strictly with the name's description, you complete a, b, c, e, s - it would be easy to include h, f, t - You wouldn't do d, g, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r

Hopefully this dump of ideas makes sense. As someone who's done All Achievements speedruns for Final Fantasy XIII, I would definitely be up for running something along these lines if we can route it down under 30 hours or so.

Finrod

2015-07-21 10:52:26 am

Beforehand congratz on that last PB MLSTRM, pretty good already Smiley

About NPC link, I know Gaiachaos2000 (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPP_9XP2xt8zbkvF0731pxQ) is going through all of them right now... And he did all UMs already (or a lot of them) underlevelled with pretty cool strats. So there is already some works on it.

For the i) point, it wouldn't be to buy them but getting them from drops, which gives maxed possibility, not the one you can buy... And since the effects are permanent, that's why these were interesting, but the thing being it would be then kinda necessary to level up arts, which seems (and is) pretty dumb.

Gettig all hearts-to-hearts actually required last level of affinity with everyone in your party, and that'sg1) point... And yeah for this it depends on the routing since quests can raise affinity ad there are some tricks to get last level with a decent time.

zarsejm

2015-07-28 03:58:01 pm

I've got a question for you guys about the Tephra Cave glitches. I'm really bad at getting through them quickly... and I'm wondering if there is some trick I need to practice/master or if it's largely just luck. Getting through the door takes me ~5 minutes and getting the Cave Skeeter to push Reyn onto the Path of Absolution can take 10-30 minutes. Any suggestions?

halfbakedprophet

2015-07-31 02:01:11 pm

For the door I focused on Reyn's angle. I think it's his weapon that pushes you through, though he might have to be mid-rotation to push you far enough.

For the skeeter, get familiar with the range at which it'll escape the battle when you go to the ledge so you don't waste time with hopeless attempts. Once you have him and you're at the ledge, stick to the far left (if you use the manual camera you can see that part of the cliff is very slightly lower than the rest). Only jump in reaction to his attacks, predicting is really inconsistent and often too early. I find starting the jump as soon as I react to the skeeter's attack animation starting I get it every time.

Good luck, let me know if you have any more questions.

P.S. imo this game really doesn't need a category longer than any%, but if you're crazy enough to run it then all the power to you I suppose

MLSTRM

Edit history:

MLSTRM: 2015-08-06 06:54:04 am

2015-08-05 08:34:20 am

You can never run enough games

So Europe got a Wii U VC release of this game today, I'll be doing a run with it tonight and hopefully nothing is patched out of it, if its anything like the previous Wii releases on Wii U, it will be exactly the same game but load significantly faster, which is going to be a huge help for RTA.

EDIT: Did my run, and I would estimate that VC saves between 20 and 30 minutes in loading. The most time is saved on cutscene skips/loading, quick travelling between areas, and loading the party menu (Characters no longer load in, it's instant). Save/loading is a little faster, but seeing as it was fairly quick to begin with you don't save huge amounts of time on farming. Shops are also faster to load in, and the mission text boxes that pop up are now almost instant, saving 2-3s each time it happens.

The game remains unchanged from what I can tell, all the tricks still work, and everything still responds the same as it does on the Wii disc version, at least in terms of the speedrun. Sub-6 should be a lot easier to obtain now, and possibly even sub-5:30 will be the time to go for in RTA.

So Europe got a Wii U VC release of this game today, I'll be doing a run with it tonight and hopefully nothing is patched out of it, if its anything like the previous Wii releases on Wii U, it will be exactly the same game but load significantly faster, which is going to be a huge help for RTA.

EDIT: Did my run, and I would estimate that VC saves between 20 and 30 minutes in loading. The most time is saved on cutscene skips/loading, quick travelling between areas, and loading the party menu (Characters no longer load in, it's instant). Save/loading is a little faster, but seeing as it was fairly quick to begin with you don't save huge amounts of time on farming. Shops are also faster to load in, and the mission text boxes that pop up are now almost instant, saving 2-3s each time it happens.

The game remains unchanged from what I can tell, all the tricks still work, and everything still responds the same as it does on the Wii disc version, at least in terms of the speedrun. Sub-6 should be a lot easier to obtain now, and possibly even sub-5:30 will be the time to go for in RTA.

halfbakedprophet

2015-08-06 06:58:20 pm

It's an ironic twist of fate when europeans get the fastest version first D:

Finrod

2015-08-07 11:23:45 am

Quite ^^

I did a run yesterday too and the fast loading are indeed pretty cool. Saved 5 minutes with a really really bad farm so that part is even shorter now.

Since meus are faster too we can expect more menus that would be slower otherwise (especially for endgame). Also I'm going through the whole game before any other run to test some new stratI was told about that seems realy neat and cool... First and biggest one being using Reyn instead of Riki for Sword Valley/Galahad, which would make every movements and stuff already faster... would just depends on fight which I was told were pretty good.

Probably not gonna be ble to test all that before I comeback from vacation at the end of August though...

Radman

2015-09-14 07:53:41 am

For Fun! For GLORY!!

Why hello there my fellow Heropon! Cheesy

Been awhile since I was here. Glad you all put in LOADS of hours of work into Newgame runs. I don't think I have the patience or mental capacity to sit for 6 hours to do a run like that, so I'll stick with Newgame+ for now. Tongue

With that said, I have actually not done a run since I got my 3:32 PB. New job has (3rd shift no less) has bitten into alot of my game time. Wednesday I have a full day off so gonna try a rust removal run. If it somehow becomes a PB, I'll let you all know. ^_^

Radman

2015-11-22 04:43:34 pm

For Fun! For GLORY!!

Alright fellow Heropon. Just some bumping news.
I submitted NG+ for one marathon, and am gonna for another. The one I submitted to already was SpeedRunning Expo 2016. But the one I wanted to really talk about was RPG Limit Break. Their submissions start in a few weeks so I just gonna throw this out there:
If anyone else is planning to attend Limit Break, wanna make this a race? Just putting it out now, but will bring it up again come submission time for it. Tongue

zarsejm

2016-01-08 08:47:23 pm

I’d like your guys’ thoughts on planning a run. I’ve mentioned before that I primarily play with (a) and (b) as my completion goals: Killing Zanza III and all UMs. My game time is still 30+ hrs and I’d like to bring it down. The main thing that’s driving up my time, I think, is my endgame party for the super-bosses where I use a topple-locking setup with Shulk, Dunban, Reyn.

So, my question to you all is: What’s the quickest-to-assemble party setup that can consistently(!) beat the super-bosses? and what skills/skill-links, gems and equipment do you think they MUST HAVE to win?

Speed-running, it seems, is all about eliminating what is unnecessary and stripping down to the essentials. So, what do you think is *minimally sufficient* for an (a)+(b) run?

zarsejm

2016-01-11 11:51:44 pm

So, let me expand on my previous post by covering Gems.

Strength Up - Crystals from Heavenly Window mining.
Agility - necessary, but will take 2 slots (2x Lv IV gems is +48) because crafting Lv VI requires stuff like Ice Cabbages and Black Liver Beans.
Debuff Resist - Farmed from Magnificent Digalus (Lv 99) prior to taking on the super-bosses. Does anyone want to make the case for crafting Divine Protect instead to counter Abaasy’s Instant Death spike?
Night Vision - Trades in C6 will get Lv III, but I get the Lv V crystals from Ancient Daedala by killing him twice.
Spike Resist - Easy to get. Defeating the UMs in Bionis Interior should yield the crystals.
Unbeatable - Helpful, but maybe not necessary. I make them since I’m already getting the crystals from Magnificent Digalus when I get the Debuff Resist crystals.
Topple Up - Easy to get on Kromar Coast during the trip to kill Stormy Belagon. They’re essential for my Shulk/Dunban/Reyn topple-locking party, but not needed if I go with a better/different party for the super-bosses. Suggestions please!
Ether Up and Electric Plus - My Shulk/Dunban/Reyn party doesn’t use these, but they’d be easy to get from UMs and the Second Lung mine.

Again, I'm looking for suggestions on the quickest-to-assemble party setup that can consistently beat the super-bosses. Thoughts?

So, let me expand on my previous post by covering Gems.

[b]Strength Up[/b] - Crystals from Heavenly Window mining.
[b]Agility [/b]- necessary, but will take 2 slots (2x Lv IV gems is +48) because crafting Lv VI requires stuff like Ice Cabbages and Black Liver Beans.
[b]Debuff Resist[/b] - Farmed from Magnificent Digalus (Lv 99) prior to taking on the super-bosses.  Does anyone want to make the case for crafting Divine Protect instead to counter Abaasy’s Instant Death spike?
[b]Night Vision[/b] - Trades in C6 will get Lv III, but I get the Lv V crystals from Ancient Daedala by killing him twice.
[b]Spike Resist[/b] - Easy to get.  Defeating the UMs in Bionis Interior should yield the crystals.
[b]Unbeatable[/b] - Helpful, but maybe not necessary.  I make them since I’m already getting the crystals from Magnificent Digalus when I get the Debuff Resist crystals.
[b]Topple Up [/b]- Easy to get on Kromar Coast during the trip to kill Stormy Belagon.  They’re essential for my Shulk/Dunban/Reyn topple-locking party, but not needed if I go with a better/different party for the super-bosses.  Suggestions please!
[b]Ether Up[/b] and [b]Electric Plus[/b] - My Shulk/Dunban/Reyn party doesn’t use these, but they’d be easy to get from UMs and the Second Lung mine.

Again, I'm looking for suggestions on the quickest-to-assemble party setup that can consistently beat the super-bosses.  Thoughts?

Finrod

2016-01-14 04:20:47 pm

Hey man! GL with that anyway Smiley

I guess the best way to get to what you need is get spike resist up, night vision and probably agility. Night vision I think should do the trick as long as you have enough weapon power, which I guess you should considering that your party set up has a really high DPS. Spike res up could be trade for recovery up gems but that doesn't work with every team I guess. Anyway those gems are necessary for any parties I think. topple up is indeed really cool with this party, again. After that I don't really know ^^"

Also there are for example pretty cool strats for Daedala: and

Basically just showing off that you can trivialize this guy. Arsene is rather easy with any set up you would consider, I've seen him killed by inexperienced ppl on their first play lvl 90. The others I don't really know as much but they shouldn't be too hard.

Radman

2016-01-16 06:01:44 am

For Fun! For GLORY!!

Superbosses. Yeah, fun if you can win, a nightmare otherwise. The only 2 I could ever beat were Marcus and Arsene. Marcus is very simple as long as you can tank or counter his Spike.
I actually plan to make Arsene a donation incentive for my run at SRX in March. labeling simply as "Rabbit from Hell". I pick Arsene simply cuz he's the least out of the way superboss, literally being next to a landmark. Gonna be a chore deciding where to fit into the run though, and forging the Agil Up gems too.

Oh and good luck with your All UMs run zarse, have fun with Abassy. Tongue

Finrod

2016-01-16 06:08:44 am

If you wanna add Arsene to the route just do it post MC since he spawns after the events. Then probably just do it after getting to Bionis Interior I guess (basically ASAP).

Anyway for every bosses there are pretty cool vids on YT, you should probably take inspiration from it Wink

Radman

2016-01-17 02:07:53 pm

For Fun! For GLORY!!

Yeah I'll figure that out once I shake off the rust. Just finished a run, and wow...
Time was 3:53:53. I have been away too long that I forgot where to go at times, like going in circles in Bionis Interior. Menuing was sloppy, I missed the drop in Central Pit, and botched all the late game boss kills. This did include me seeing some cutscenes I plan to show off for my marathon run, but did not include Arsene.
... I have a LOT of practice ahead of me. >_>

zarsejm

2017-07-06 01:21:31 pm

A few updates. I've been doing a lot of route planning and optimizing and can now do the all UM run in 21 hours (20h in-game time). This is only for
(a) Beating the game
(b) Killing every UM

I have also done a [segmented] "100%" run in ~35 hours (31:20 in-game time). This included
(a) Beating the game
(b) Killing every UM
(c) Unlocking all skill branches
(d) 5* Affinity with all areas
(e) Completing all quests (no quests expire due to story progression)
(f) Filling the collectopaedia
(h) Filling out the maps
(s) Colony 6 Reconstruction

I left out (g) All party member affinity and heart-to-hearts because it was just too grindy.

Overall, it was pretty straightforward, the main time/RNG issues are where you'd expect... Gem Crafting, Agniratha Beautification quests, Rainbow Slugs, Black Liver Beans, and even Wet Rats took some time.
So, as Finrod had speculated, this is something that is at least feasible as a long RTA.

Finrod

2017-07-06 02:42:08 pm

Sick man!

Btw if you're interesed for a better place for discussion we've had a discord for a while now, here it is: https://discord.gg/0fLdiSWHHV7aUaik

We'd able to discuss about that better there... And maybe see someone get through all this RTA?!