Blackwood Depths - Main Entrance Race

[Tobias]

Even though I am still working on the Blackwood Depths, I would like to get a better idea of how long the dungeon currently is - especially the Main Tunnel Entrance since it has a lot of thrash, and a mini-boss.

So, I'd like to post a challenge here:

Try to complete the Main Tunnel Entrance of the Blackwood Depths as fast as you can.

Get a good group, but don't be too reckless - wiping might mean you losing more time than you would have taken if you just took it safe. There aren't many rules, so I'll post them right here:

• The timer starts when you pull the first group (or get really close to that group).
• The timer stops the moment Keraketh is defeated.
• You need to enable hard mode before engaging Keraketh. The time will not be counted if you fight Keraketh in normal mode.
• The race will end in two weeks - on July 27, 2016.

These are the most obvious rules - the rest is probably "clear" anyway, but just in case:

• You can get as many or as few group members as you'd like - since the monsters scale based on how many players are in the dungeon, it doesn't matter if you go as three or as six.
• You can reset the dungeon. As long as you didn't get bound, the time will reset with it.
• Unlocking shortcuts at the rune will immediately mark the time as invalid.
• The time will automatically be submitted upon defeating Keraketh, for anyone who is in the map at that point.
• Whichever group you completed your best time in, will be considered "your" group. Everyone in a clear will have the exact same time.

The groups with the top two times will receive an unique Racing Goggles head item:



Any questions? Post them here!
Otherwise: Good luck!

[Ancient Light]

Question: Would there be more bosses after finishing the race?

[Tobias]

You are free to continue the dungeon and kill any other bosses, of course. ;3

[Ryena]

Will you announce the winners?

[Tobias]

Good call! Sorry, I have been a bit busy with things, but I have the results! I'll just go through them and wrap them up, to make sure none of the racing efforts ..

.. remain hidden. ;)

[Tobias]

Oookay! Sorry this has taken a while - but the results are in!

To make it short, the winning group of the race in terms of the lowest time (and a complete run) is the group with Danmaster, selectLOL, Orly and Lilac. With a time of 39 minutes and 48 seconds on a dungeon floor that used to take well over two hours, they showed what kind of clear time is possible with proper cooldown management, coordination, and last but not least, a well attuned team. A lot of effort was put in their runs, and they improved their time multiple times. Their average time of around 45 minutes was excellent, however, this last run took a chunk of time off their best performance yet. This would be a 100% finish.


The strategy of their group was quite different than the group with the lowest time, Sprite, JDemonio, Asphodelus and Ashfur, who also showed what kind of clear time is possible if you .. actually don't clear the dungeon, but sneak past half of the mobs by, let's call it, creative use of game mechanics. This yielded a time of 34 minutes and 12 seconds - if you use invisibility to get to the bosses, and a death relay run to the final boss. Nevertheless, to get that time they put no less effort in than the first team - from retrying when they choked on their current run, to dying when it meant to shave minutes off their previous runs, they used any of the strategies a speedrunner would use - high damage and highly controlled pulls included. This would be a low% finish.


Congratulations go to both teams - both are worthy winners to this race.