The Great Race; a proposal for "Khalim" awards

[Crystalion]

1. Horadric malus, getting to level 8.
No twink, players 1, no assistance, normal difficulty. Using the Assassin: 29:09

That's pretty good. I've made three such runs, but with a Druid, scoring only 44:42, 39:47, 39:40.

In case you didn't know (as I've posted before) you can "repair" throwing potions by selling them to the shop and buying them back. This is most efficient when they are nearly gone. If you want a lot of potions, therefore, you should not auto-pick-up throwing potions, but rather have your inventory open (so as to place them in by hand, thus not combining them, thus allowing to sell/re-buy more stacks). IIRC strangling gas costs on the order of $32 a throw. If you have any luck finding a ring, amulet, wand, scepter, or staff, (to sell) then money on this scale isn't a problem.

In my third run I used strangling gas a bit at the end (as I had, in this and the first run, made it to the Malus before getting to level 8) and it really is very effective vs. chasers, just as you said.

The travel time is a big part of the run, so I like your Burst of Speed concept. My use of Druid, is of course, because I can't count on finding Strangling Gas potions at all, and Poison Creeper almost auto-levels me up as I travel to the Monastary. I'm going to have to try Ravens (edit: tried it... they truly suck). Although I think they peter out sooner than pumping poison creeper, at level 6 strangling gas is faster xp than either. For comparision, giving a decent bow to a Rogue is pretty effective, but not nearly as fast.