Did a 3 hour 4 minute speedrun with more updated strategies. Overall, this was a good shot at a sub-3 hour speedrun, but the first attempt at Mangar resulted in a teamwipe from the first Demon Lord’s breath. Ouch that hurts. Second attempt succeeded but was 4 minutes too late to get the entire run under 3 hours.
So, getting a sub-3 hour speedrun is very possible, but moderately RNG dependent. The RNG lies in item drops. Mithril armor drops in Catacombs makes for a faster Harkyn 1, and further good drops there make for a faster Harkyn 2. But ultimately, getting 2x Exorwands and 4x Luckshields in Harkyn 2 can consume a lot of time. Fortunately, the XP in Harkyn 2 is really good, which offsets some of the time loss. But failure to get the necessary items before the 2h45min mark leaves you with a weak party for the final encounter.
The party composition for the 2nd (and successful) attempt was as follows:
- Lvl 21 Elf Paladin – with Luckshield
- Lvl 21/23 Half-Orc Hunters – no Luckshields
- Lvl 9 Elf Wizard (13 Conj, 13 Sorc) – with Luckshield, Spectre Snare
- Lvl 14/14 Elf Magicians (14 Magi only) – with Luckshields
The overall approach this time was to level the Paladin solo on Ogre Lords to Lvl 9. Then solo level each Hunter on Samurai to lvl 5 then Ogre Lords to lvl 9. The level Conjurer to lvl 7 on Samurai. Level these four as a party in Catacombs until Conjurer has SHSP. Then level the same four as a party in Harkyn 1 until Conjurer has APAR.
Once APAR was available, leveled the Pal/Hunts on Spectre in Catacombs until all have max stats. Then bumped Conj to Sorc and leveled the party in Harkyn 1/2 until Sorc had WIDR. In that process, got the Crystal Sword and Silver Square. Once Sorc had WIDR, the Pal and Hunts were basically done with items, but the party was still short 2 Luckshields and 1 Exorwand.
Once WIDR was available, we made a fast run through Kylearan’s tower to get the Onyx key and Silver Triangle. Killed the easy encounters along the way, avoided everything else. The party then added the two lvl 1 Magicians, and returned to Harkyn 2. The RNG was really good and the party quickly found 2x Luckshields a 1x Exorwand. The rest of the time was spent farming Wraiths/Ghouls in Catacombs 3.
Once Wizard was level 9, Mangar was immediately attempted. APAR’d to Silver Circle, then APAR’d to sequence to open stairs, then straight through to Mangar where the team was quickly wiped due to a Demon Lord breath attack. Immediately healed up team and returned to win.
Both Mangar attack selections were the same as earlier attempts, Special/Pal/Hunts focus Demon Lords, Wiz casts REDE on Vampire Lords, Magicians cast DEST on Vampire Lords. Mangar is ignored the first round. The second round strategy is basically to cleanup in the most efficient manner. Wizard with LO AC and Spectre Snare is essentially another Hunter to instant kill something. The surviving Magicians either used REST or DEST as appropriate.