Game:

Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny (1988)

Duration: 36:39

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19

This is similar to "Ultima V speedrun in 36 minutes" but with a few more constraints and improvements just because I wanted a run that didn't exploit infinite glass swords or use the evil Saduj character):
- I *don't* recruit Saduj, get the Glass Sword, WEAR rings, or use gems
- I use more-efficient paths in the Underworld and in Doom
- I don't use the pocket watch (until the very last room)
- I still use torches because it's easier and makes for a better video. (Also, you need a torch or In Lor spell to reveal hidden doors in Shame and Doom anyway).
- There is room for improvement as I still picked up some items I didn't need.

- 7:37 Enter Underworld
- 13:57 Exit Underworld
- 26:17 Enter Doom

Without the glass sword, Doom battles depend more on favorable RNG, so I'm stoked I did this in a single segment. I had the strategy planned out three years ago, but never got around to implementing it until now!

I'm coining the following terms for a few techniques:
- Carpet blocking: Used to prevent Saduj from standing in front of the doorway.
- Karma hoarding ...or a similar-sounding term: I boost the initial 75 karma amount 6 points in Minoc which means Iolo keeps 86% of his experience points when killed and resurrected which is is *just* enough to keep Iolo level 3 so that he can still cast the In Por (blink) spell.
- Skiff ditching: Makes it faster to board and exit the frigate if you have a magic carpet.
- Free key(s): If you have under $50 and are around the Yew jail, you can get keys without paying and without any karma hit.
- Dexterity (Dis)advantage: Flaming oil (or wall of fire) quickly damages sandtraps and mongbats.
- Pony express: Wishing for a "lotus" (horse) doesn't save time, but it does mean you won't encounter bridge trolls and you can outrun enemies. You can wish for other harder-to-spell sports cars :-)


Other techniques used: Summoning a daemon as a diversion, moving around moonstones, intentional damage/deaths, entering Stonegate between 6:00 and 7:00 (or between noon and 1:00), etc.

I must admit that using Repel Undead spells against daemons makes me feel as if I'm Harry Potter using simple disarm and stun spells against Death Eaters!


Here are some problems I encountered, in no particular order, when attempting this speedrun (things that killed a run):
1. Shadowlords appearing in Britain and Minoc can prevent Gwenno and the beggar from talking to you. Falsehood seems to be okay, though, as seen in my video. (Surprisingly, I still got the right amount of money when selling items, but I wonder what Gwenno stole from me....)
2. Breaking keys in LB's castle basement. I could get the keys from the barrel before unlocking the door with the hidden protection ring, but this is slower, and I'm on a tight schedule trying to get to Stonegate before 7 p.m. (I guess getting to Stonegate too late could be its own run-breaking category.)
3. Stupid mistakes like casting blink from the wrong spot.
4. Earthquake *just* after you resurrected Iolo.
5. Miscounting the duration of negate time. (You have 18 turns before it wears off.)
6. Being killed in the squid/serpent room despite entering with full health and summoning a daemon my first turn. (That's why I saved before entering; I thought I would have to concede to making a two-segment run.)
7. Ship getting destroyed from fireballs/pirates or going down a whirlpool.
8. Getting nested treasure chests from the sandtrap in Doom so that the negate time spell doesn't last long enough in the reaper-mongbat room.
9. Getting killed in the shark-wisp room. My typical strategy (when I don't have glass swords or extra negate time scrolls like in my previous speedrun videos) is to summon two daemons upon entering in order to kill off the wisps and trigger the exit. I cast negate time right before exiting (or right after the second bridge) so that I can simply waltz through the lavapit-mongbat-daemon room. However, I have still died from the wisps when staring with full health, so I took a conservative approach of using negate time in the shark-wisp room upon entry. I knew that the battle in the next room could take longer, but the morning star along with repel undead and summon daemons would make it very low risk.
10. If you have very low health and fall through that final pit in Doom which takes you to the mirror room, you can actually die and cause the game to freeze. (Falling is quicker than searching for the pit and climbing down.)

Other random thoughts about this speedrun:
* I like racing Hardluck, the Empath Abbey jester, to the door.
* I danced with Chuckles, the LB Castle jester, without bonking into him.
* I have been attacked by monsters in the void around Doom just a few times before but never TWICE like in this run!

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