Deus Ex Ultimate Run walkthrough

Conditions for the ultimate Deus Ex run are:

  • Do not carry or use inventory items. In particular:
    • No weapons.
    • No augmentations.
    • No lockpicks or multitools.
  • No skills upgrades. In particular:
    • No hacking.
  • Never use a door code or a computer login without acquiring it legitimately.
  • Spend no money.
  • Use no bioelectricity. That is:
    • No flashlight.
    • Never use a repairbot or at any time recharge your bioelectricity.
  • And naturally, "Realistic" difficulty setting.

Obviously, all three endings should be achieved. For numerous reasons, this is not a non-lethal run.

These are the conditions for the famed "Alginon run". Although fully captured on video, this run is long (4 hours 25 minutes 53 seconds altogether), involving some very cautious strategies, and the game audio has been lost. Unfortunately, this makes keeping track of Alginon's strategy difficult, particularly when individual techniques span multiple videos. Annotating the videos is also difficult because YouTube only permits 500 characters per comment. What follows is a summary of Alginon's videos, plus notes for your own Ultimate run.

The constraints of the run mean there is only one important variable to track: your health. Opportunities to heal yourself (i.e. medical bots) are marked in green. Areas where you must unavoidably take damage are marked in red.

Ultimate Run The Second

This run adds one further constraint:

  • Do not use medical bots.

For practical purposes, this amounts to "do not take damage unless absolutely necessary". This requires changes to several of Alginon's strategies, as noted.

Update, 2021-02-06: Deus Ex Ultimate Speedrun

Since I originally wrote this article in 2013, many new techniques have been discovered which make the Ultimate Run faster to execute... fast enough that it's now considered a valid category for single-segment speed running. As specified on that page, this category appears to use the "Ultimate Run The Second" rule set, where use of medical bots is forbidden in addition to the rest. Additionally, for the purposes of the speed run, saving and reloading is permitted, which is a necessity because many of the techniques used in this run are inconsistent. However, the timer keeps going as you reload and try again.

Admittedly, at the time of writing, this category has only one submitted run, from November 2017. But enough has changed that I'll be adding extra notes below for all the significant changes.

Contents

1. Liberty Island

No carrying items: drop everything before you start moving. Speak to Paul at the dock. It doesn't matter what you take from him, drop it right afterwards.

Go right from the dock and stay in the shadows, then climb the shipping containers piled at the side of the statue. You'll have to deactivate a gas grenade to get into the statue body (don't pick it up). Just ignore the NSF trooper and sailor talking and keep climbing stairs, they won't spot you.

You'll get to a higher level with two more NSF troopers. Stay crouched and turn right out of the stairs, staying in darkness and sneaking all the way up to Leo Gold undetected. Take the second option when speaking to Gold (otherwise he'll kill you), then head downstairs and home to base.

Speak to Manderley, then Jaime Reyes in Medical, and Sam Carter in Weaponry. Sam'll give you another two items that you'll need to drop. Go back to Manderley and then head out to the boat.

Alginon's run

Alginon rescues Gunther, which is not strictly necessary. Instead of climbing the shipping containers, go around the left side of the statue to the main entrance, ducking behind crates to avoid being seen by NSF troopers. Retrieve the NSF001/smashthestate login from a nearby crate. Sneak in through the front entrance behind the sentry bot without being seen. Run up to the computer next to the front entrance and use the login to turn everything off and open the door. In the Statue lobby, hide in the shadows to the right of the stairs then creep around to the left. This gets the attention of various NSF troopers. Pick up the crate of TNT from in front of the kiosk and then throw it at the entrance to the complex where Gunther is being held, killing most of the NSF. Sneak in to the second computer inside here and use the same login as before to rescue Gunther.

Climb the stairs up to the statue to return to the main mission.

Ultimate Run The Second

Here and throughout this run, you should ignore any medical bots that are mentioned.

Also, unless otherwise specified, you should be able to survive having taken zero damage and lost zero bioelectricity.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake throws equipment away while on the move. My strict rules above state "do not carry inventory items" implying that you should discard them immediately after picking them up and before you start moving. However, this is considered acceptable as long as you don't actually distract anybody by throwing your equipment away i.e. gain time from the carrying.

Pancake takes the more risky approach of going straight in the front entrance and up the interior stairwell. No attempt at stealth is made or required because as soon as we reach Leo Gold any pursuing NSF are eliminated.

2. Battery Park

Go left and then straight north, passing Castle Clinton on your left. Veer right and you'll arrive at the back of the shanty town, having bypassed all of the NSF/UNATCO violence. Open the hatch next to the lamp post and descend into the steam tunnels beside the subway station. With great care, sneak into the subway station from the vents.

Steal two TNT crates and move them safely into the corner where the hostages are. Steal a third TNT crate and lob this one into the middle of the NSF, killing as many of them as possible, then hide in the vents until the alarm dies down.

Take the two TNT remaining crates through to Hell's Kitchen and drop them safely there.

Alginon's run

Alginon locates the first Ambrosia container, which is optional. Steal an extra TNT crate from the subway station. Go back to Castle Clinton and drop it safely (i.e. while crouched). Blunder into the Castle Clinton entrance to trigger the fight between Anna's team fighting and the NSF inside. Wait until the place is cleaned up, then carry your TNT in too. Throw the TNT at the locked box inside the small building at the centre of Castle Clinton.

Inside the box is a datacube with a door code, 666. Go to the sealed hatch elsewhere in the same building and use the code to get into the complex underneath the Castle. Go left and then left again. Use stealth to get past the cameras and guard in the storage room to reach the first Ambrosia container. You should be able to leave undetected via the same route. Leave the Castle. Anna will talk to you and give you some EMP grenades to drop. Return to the subway station through the vents again.

Ultimate Run The Second

Throughout the game, remember that the only way to avoid taking damage from a thrown TNT crate is to hide behind scenery.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake evades Anna at the start. They go straight through the NSF/UNATCO shootout to the vents rather than sneak around behind it, risking a little damage but taking none. On the subway platform, Pancake throws a garbage can to distract the NSF, then rushes the first TNT crate into the train. This run no longer uses a second TNT crate, so that's the last we'll see of the hostages.

3. Water Treatment Facility

Take one TNT crate. Once out of the Hell's Kitchen subway station, go straight to the basketball court where two hoodlums are roughing up a bum. Throw the crate just so that the hoodlums are hurt and start attacking you instead (note: if done correctly, this will also kill the onlooking bum who says "Do something, man!") Run away and head for the two UNATCO troopers near the 'Ton Hotel, who'll shoot the hoodlums dead for you. Go back to basketball court and the bum you rescued will give you the password "underworld", which you'll need later. (The only other way to get this password is to pay Harley Filbin money later in the game, but this is a no-money run.)

Alginon's run

Alginon rescues Ford Schick, which is, again, optional. Go to the alley behind the Underworld Tavern and threaten to have the pimp added to the NSF casualty list. He'll leave without a fight. Speak to Sandra twice to get the "bloodshot" password. Go to Smuggler's (near the subway station) and use "bloodshot" to get in.

Alginon blundered through the lasers and took a little damage from the bot, but it's possible to jump the lasers using a nearby supply crate. Speak to Smuggler to get the key to the Hell's Kitchen sewers. Exit the way you came in. On your way back, the bot will be friendly.

The nearest sewer grate is just the other side of the subway entrance. Duck the first laser and run through the second and right. Climb the ladder and read the data cube to get a door code, 2167. Wait for the alarms to calm down and then exit the sewer entirely. Go around to the other sewer entrance, near where you saw Sandra. You'll arrive at the MJ12 base, just overlooking the rotating bridge. Sneak across the bridge without being seen and open the door directly ahead. If you stay crouched, you can read the datacube under the table in here without being noticed by the seated MJ12 guard. You'll get a login, MJ12/coupdetat.

Steal the medical crate from this room. Carry it anticlockwise around the hole in the main room, dropping it and crouching behind it for cover when necessary. Place it to obstruct the vision of the nearest MJ12 guard and descend the ladder into the hole. Step left off the ladder into the tunnel that opens out onto the hole, then climb the other ladder, putting you behind the same MJ12 trooper with a clear crawl at the computer on the wall here. Use MJ12/coupdetat to rotate the bridge, turn off some cameras and switch the allegiance of a turret. Cross the bridge, taking the crate with you, throwing the crate as a distraction. Descend the ladder and go into the other tunnel. Run past the guard here and into the long tunnel with green sewer gas in the pit on the left. The guard will follow you but get shot down by the turret. Use 2167 to get through the next door: a guard beyond this door can be lured back to the turret as before.

Use MJ12/coupdetat on the computer in the next room to switch off more cameras and unlock Ford Schick's door. Sneak in and tell him to make a run for it, then sneak out after him.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake triggers the NSF/UNATCO firefight around the corner from the 'Ton at the same time as luring the hoodlums in that direction.

4. Generator

Go to the 'Ton Hotel and look around the corner to trigger the NSF/UNATCO firefight. Go back to the subway station and collect your second TNT crate. Bring it back to the firefight, which will be mostly over now. The Osgood & Sons warehouse front door should have been blasted down by an NSF trooper inside the building. If it isn't (it's a little random), you can reload your game, or search nearby NSF corpses for the key. Of course, drop anything else you find. Take your TNT crate through the warehouse to the LAM-filled alley section.

Here, it's important to be quick. Take your TNT over the fence and up the ladder to the top of the first building. Climb down the second ladder and drop down the fire escapes to the next building, then climb down the long ladder into the final alley. Read the datacube here to get the warehouse basement ramp code, 2577. At the far end of the alley is the destination building, where NSF troopers are patrolling at random. If you've been quick, there should not be any troopers in the alley itself.

Drop your TNT crate in the alley, then collect a small box from further back. Throw it as a distraction for the troopers, then collect your TNT crate and run away around the left side of the warehouse. Drop your TNT crate at the ramp entrance, then keep running, luring the troopers and dogs around to the ramp to the next floor. Run up the ramp and drop down to double back on yourself, taking a small amount of leg damage. This is very random, and might take a few attempts to pull off.

Open the basement ramp using 2577 and take your TNT crate inside. Turn right. From this vantage point, throw the crate into the middle of warehouse at the generator on the ground floor. This should set off the nearby explosive barrels and take the generator out. Beat a hasty retreat out the way you came, up the exterior ramp and then up the ladders to the roof, where you can meet the chopper.

Alginon's run

Concluding the optional "Rescue Ford Schick" side quest:

Climb the ladder and sneak back across the bridge, using your trusty medical crate as cover. Make a dash for the tunnel on the far side of the hole and use 2167 twice to escape. Duck the lasers or run through them where necessary. You'll exit through the first sewer entrance. Then do as above.

Ultimate Run The Second

At the warehouse, while you're running past the overlooking bit, quickly place a large cardboard box to break your fall later. This negates the falling damage.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

When passing through Osgood & Sons, Pancake has an opportunity to discard some equipment, potentially distracting a guard. However, they hold off until the next area is loaded, avoiding even the appearance of impropriety.

This whole section is done without an TNT crate. We skip disabling the LAMs and don't bother climbing the ladders, navigating the alleys instead, dashing past an autogun. It takes two attempts to dash past the NSF at ground level outside the generator building without being hurt. Pancake climbs ladders to the top of the building and then sneaks down, stealing a supply crate and making good use of quick saves, landing on one guard's head. I think we then throw the supply crate onto the top of an explosive barrel - not actually visible in the video - in order to blow up the generator.

Sneaking up to the top of the building for extraction requires some finesse but Pancake gets pretty lucky.

5. Brooklyn Bridge Station

At UNATCO, speak to Manderley and get healed at Medical.

Back at Battery Park, speak to Curly and use the "underworld" password to get the code for the subway station phone booth, 6653.

Getting past the blockage to the pipes usually requires an explosive, but unfortunately there are no TNT crates available. However, it's possible to climb over the blockage. Number the fallen wooden beams from one to five, starting with the one nearest the door and finishing with the one furthest away. Your goal is to climb on top of beam number three (which is almost horizontal), at the point on the right where it is lowest. You can do this by placing a white trash can closest to it, and a small metal crate nearby. If you do this correctly, you should have enough headroom to jump onto the crate, then onto the trash can, then crouch and jump onto the beam. At least I think this is what Alginon does, the video quality is not good. This is much easier if you try it out first using your flashlight, but remember this is a strictly no-bioelectricity run!

You should be able to turn the water on and get back past the blockage without any special tricks. Having turned the water back on you can speak to the mole person for the code to the secret door in the women's restrooms, 5482.

Once in the second area, use stealth to get to the far south end of the tracks and push the secret brick to open the secret door. Take the key and from then on the NSF troopers will surrender to you on sight, allowing you to run unimpeded to the other end of the tracks and through the locked door, to the "Unknown Location" tunnels.

Alginon's run

Alginon uses a white trashbag instead of a metal crate. But the trashbag is harder to stand on and I think it breaks after you stand on it too many times.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake uses a pot plant to prevent Anna from blocking their egress from Manderley's office.

Rather than fool around with the pipe blockage problem, Pancake beans a nearby junkie with a metal crate, causing him to chase us with a LAM. This is used to blast our way into the tunnels.

6. Airfield

Go left at the fork and stack two crates to get over the lasers. Bring them both over the wall with you.

There's no way through the next locked door without lockpicks or the key, and the key is held by the trooper. When the trooper sees you, he'll run for the alarm. So, use your two crates along with two others which are nearby to trap the trooper. The trooper runs for the alarm switch, which means the easiest place to put your crates is around the alarm switch, so that the trooper runs straight into your trap. Once he's trapped, stack a fifth crate on one of the other four, and use it to jump on the trooper's head a few times, killing him. This is easier than throwing the crate at his head. Discard his gun and knife.

In the next section, drop through the lasers into the water, then swim through the tunnel, taking a little drowning damage.

Sneak past the sentry bots, using the holes on the right for cover. Go through the double doors to trigger the NSF trooper to start walking, opening the doors ahead. Wait for a good moment to run through to the sewer grate at the far left, as Alex suggests. Swim the underwater section, taking a little more drowning damage. This will bring you directly to the boathouse at the airfield.

At the boathouse, steal the gate key from the nearby crate. Use stealth to get through the airfield's main gate. Push the hidden brick inside the NSF barracks (ground floor) to get the dormitory key from the secret room, then use stealth to get into the dormitory itself. Inside a trunk here you'll find a datacube with the hangar code, 5914, which you can use immediately to get into the hangar.

On the 747, as you would on a normal run, get the door key from the control room, then confront Lebedev. Without weapons, you have no option but to let Anna execute him. Return to the helicopter.

Ultimate Run The Second

At the lasers, instead of dropping through and swimming for it, push a medium-sized metal crate so that it blocks the lasers from the left, then hide from the turret and wait for the alarm to die down. Then push the button to extend the bridge and cross it on foot. This avoids the swimming section and saves you the drowning damage.

At the helibase, instead of using the sewer grate, go right and lure the NSF troopers away from the corridor. You can sneak down the corridor and exit by the elevator at the far end, even though it's covered by a camera and autogun. This avoids the second swimming section and, again, can be done without taking damage.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake uses only two crates, stacking them by the alarm to prevent the NSF trooper from reaching it, and then jumping on top of them to stand on the trooper's head. Much more efficient.

Pancake blows the lasers up with a nearby TNT crate, and evades the sentry bots very quickly without using the tunnels. We hide behind a ladder to lure the NSF troopers away from the passage to the east.

On the airfield, we use a steel crate to jump through the gap in the locked gate, skipping the trip to boathouse to steal the gate key. On the way back we can just use the button.

7. NSF Headquarters

Get patched up again at UNATCO. Speak to Paul in New York, then go to the NSF HQ.

Take a TNT crate from the ground floor of the HQ and throw it at the unmarked, boarded-up door outside the building. This opens up a ramp down into the NSF basement, which is ordinarily only accessed from below. There is another door down here which also needs to be destroyed. You can find another TNT crate from inside the building upstairs, but it's easy to demolish both doors at once using the first crate. Go through and you'll find Lebedev's data cube on top of the locked cabinet. This gives you the logins MCOLLINS/REVOLUTION and NAPOLEON/REVOLUTION for the two computers on the top floor.

Go up and send the signal, but before doing that, take the supply crate on the roof and put it against the wall; you'll need to use it to jump from the roof. Use light fittings to break your fall. You'll take falling damage on the first of the four drops.

Run away and back to Paul. When the raid starts, do not exit through the window, as this is the trigger for Paul's death, and you need him alive. Instead, run out into the hotel and allow yourself to be shot dead/captured.

Ultimate Run The Second

To avoid the falling damage you have no choice but to sneak all the way out of the warehouse on foot, undetected. This is very difficult and requires a lot of quick-save abuse. Use supply crates as cover.

To avoid taking damage in the raid, first note that Paul gives you the code 6282 for the locked Hell's Kitchen subway entrance. Exit through the window to Hell's Kitchen.

In the alley, open up the sewer grate to descend to the secret MJ12 facility (where Ford Schick was being held earlier). At this phase of the game, no key is required and the facility is ruined/abandoned. Cross the bridge and descend the ladder to the far tunnel. Jump the lasers to avoid triggering the turrets, or just scoot past them and wait for the alarm to fade before exiting past the final turret. This will bring you out to a different sewer grate beneath Hell's Kitchen, this one extremely close to the subway entrance. Open the grate and wait for a good moment, then sneak through to the subway. Use 6282 to get in.

Back in Castle Clinton you will be confronted by Anna Navarre. Evade her and run up the steps to meet Gunther Hermann instead. Surrender to him - this is painless, and you'll start the UNATCO escape with full health.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake talks to Paul through the hotel room wall, saving a second or two. A tiny amount of leg damage is taken dropping from the hotel room escape ladder.

On the way to the roof Pancake takes a TNT crate and uses it to kill the UNATCO trooper on the roof, incidentally blasting out a window which makes accessing the computer up here faster. By landing on a steel crate, Pancake is able to drop from the roof without taking falling damage. This technique will appear a few more times in this run.

Pancake brings a TNT crate along as they leave the NSF headquarters... this is used to access the 'Ton escape ladder and get back to Paul quickly. After that, they bring it all the way to the subway station and use it to kill Anna Navarre before surrendering to Gunther.

8. UNATCO Escape

Run out of your cell and straight towards Nanotech. You'll speak to Dr. Moreau who'll give you the code for the Medical area, 0199.

Bear right after the small office where the MJ12 trooper is trying to impress the secretary. Go up the stairs on the right and use the button to release the two karkians. While the guards are distracted, use 0199 to get in to see Paul. Paul will give you a login for later, demiurge/archon. You can also heal yourself.

Hurry back the way you came. Now that you have spoken to Paul, Daedalus will give you the facility exit code, 1125. Sneak out past the MJ12 guards in the main room, and just run away from the trooper at the desk.

Follow the patrolling guard out from Level 4, then veer left to meet Jaime Reyes. Advise him to stay at UNATCO - this is necessary to get Gunther's killphrase, later. You can heal yourself again if you really must.

Find Gunther Hermann's computer and use the demiurge/archon login to get the second half of Anna's killphrase, then go to Manderley's computer and use the same login for the first half. Be quick, Manderley pulls a gun on you. Once Anna's dead, sneak back to Alex for the UNATCO exit door key.

The very last guard can drop you with a single headshot while you're opening the final door. Throw a trophy to distract him.

Alginon's run

Alginon uses the ventilation tunnels to get into the main control room, which is a little closer to the exit door from the MJ12 facility.

Ultimate Run The Second

Paul is dead, so he can't give you the password for Anna Navarre's killphrase. Instead, after speaking to Dr. Moreau, carry on in that direction. Sneak across the robot maintenance bay and pilfer a TNT crate. Bring it back with you and exit the MJ12 facility with it.

Back in UNATCO, instead of using Gunther Hermann and Joseph Manderley's computers to get the killphrase, just go straight to Anna Navarre. Drop the TNT crate at the top of the stairs to the left, then go up the stairs on the right to confront her. Run away, down the stairs and up the other stairs, then throw the crate at her head as she comes around the corner.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake skips the TNT crate, because Anna Navarre is already dead, which means we can just talk to Alex for the exit key immediately. On the way out through Medical, we do not bother talking to Jaime Reyes, as this strategy does not call for Gunther Hermann to be killed, we'll be evading him entirely later.

9. MJ12 Helibase

You need the key to the flight control deck, which is locked inside a locker. Unfortunately there's no key to this locker, so you need to blow it open.

Go straight ahead and into the far grate. Follow the path around and then left, to find a large bay full of explosive barrels. Push a barrel all the way through the vents (don't worry, it'll fit) until you emerge from the vent at floor level where the MJ12 troops' bunks are. Hide from the troops and cameras while pushing the barrel to be directly under the vent in the ceiling near the second locker. Open this vent now because you won't be able to reach it later.

Exit through the vents to the stairs just outside the troops' quarters. Collect a metal crate from just outside the window where the troopers are sitting. Take it up the ladder in the hangar. Go to the far left corner of the helipad (not being seen) and open the grate. Drop the crate straight down on top of the explosive barrel that you placed below. Note: you actually need to watch the crate fall all the way, or there will be no explosion. Climb down and get the key from the locker. Now access the flight control deck and release Jock's controls.

Once Jock blasts the door down, wait for the bot to walk onto the elevator platform and use the button to raise the bot safely to the helipad above. Exit to street level using the elevator. You should be able to get through the final electrified section without taking damage if you crouch.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake steals a crate and sneaks straight into the barracks, then executes an elaborate technique to force an MJ12 trooper to walk into the locker, spontaneously opening it. This technique seems inconsistent and Pancake gets some bad luck. It takes quite a few attempts. We also sneak behind the final bot rather than wait.

10. Dragon Tooth Sword

Go straight to Maggie Chow's house on Tonnochi Road. Go upstairs and right, into the meeting room. Look at the datacube: "Hello Maggie! I swear I will never forget your birthday again! July 18th is marked on my calendar forever! -- Louis". Go back downstairs and pull the secret paper lantern to get to the hidden rooms. Use the code that you were just obliquely told, 718, to open the sealed door ahead. Sneak through (there are troopers nearby) and use the same code to open the Dragon's Tooth sword case, but - since you don't need to - don't collect it.

Go to the canals and collect a metal crate from near where the two bums are arguing. Take your crate back to the Lucky Money club. Throw it at the head of one of the Australian girls, causing them to run into the club, letting you in for free. Get into the backrooms via the upstairs bar, then speak to Max Chen. Evade the MJ12 raid and escape. Collect your crate on the way out, and drop it outside VersaLife for future reference.

Go to Tong's compound. Use the code you're given, 1997, to get in and have your killswitch fixed, heal yourself and also retrieve the VersaLife door code, 06288. Collect your crate and take it into VersaLife.

Alginon's run

Alginon collects the crate a little early, before visiting Maggie Chow.

Ultimate Run The Second

When leaving Tong's compound, take a wooden supply crate with you. Bring both it and your metal crate into VersaLife.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake only takes the single steel crate into VersaLife.

11. VersaLife

Without using money, you cannot bribe Mr. Hundley. Instead, use chairs to trap him in a cubicle and throw your crate at his head until he dies. Although hitting him is easy, it only damages him if he goes "oof", which needs the crate to land almost vertically on his head. Once he goes into "alarmed" mode and starts running to escape, you can actually jump on his head to kill him faster.

Speak to the nervous office worker to get the elevator code, 6512. Take your crate with you.

When you arrive in the MJ12 facility, go to the back, left and up the elevator. There is a datacube up here which you can read for the username MChow.

Back in the main room, attract the attention of the MJ12 guard with the GEP gun by throwing your crate at his head a few times. Run up the stairs to the board room and stand next to the locked cabinet while he shoots a rocket at you. Hide in the vent in the restrooms until the alarms die down, then read the datacube inside the cabinet you just opened to get a password, DAMOCLES.

Go to the keypad under the enormous stone hand and use the code 12 to open it (as in "Majestic-12"). Take your metal crate inside. Leave your crate in the hexagonal "Level 2 Access" corridor for now. Go to the big computer and use the login MChow/DAMOCLES to access it. Leave swiftly.

Back in the VersaLife offices, attract the attention of all the security guards, particularly the one nearest the exit elevator. Run upstairs to the office bay on the middle level. Duck into the vent hidden at the back and descend to ground level, then leave via the elevator, untouched.

Alginon's run

Alginon apparently "guesses" the username MChow.

Ultimate Run The Second

Remember to take your wooden supply crate into the MJ12 facility with you too. Drop it at the elevator. You will need to use it as cover when traversing the main hall later.

Amazingly, it is possible to get the password inside the cabinet without taking damage. If you stand behind the cabinet in the corner, the cabinet (since it counts as scenery) will absorb the explosion for you. I also used the metal crate to block the trooper's recreational room - this protected me from e.g. the flamethrower guard.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Trapping and killing Hundley takes some trial and error, unfortunately.

Pancake starts by getting the DAMOCLES password, and hurdle the GEP instead of hiding behind the password cabinet and hoping. Then they get the MChow username from upstairs. From here they push a chair into position where they can stack the steel crate on top of it to get into the vents, and reach the big computer that way. Since they didn't enter via the hand, they have to use the switch to open it on the way out. Evading the MJ12 troopers in the main atrium takes a few attempts.

12. Back To VersaLife

Go to the small pagoda to speak to the Triads, then back to speak to Tong at his compound again. Heal yourself if needed. Tong will give you the code to the nanotech research wing: 55655. Return to VersaLife via the exact same route as before. (The suggested alternate entrance, via the road tunnel, requires lockpicking.) All the hostile security guards are still on the middle floor, but you'll need to evade some new MJ12 commandos.

In the MJ12 facility, run past the spider tank and all the usual enemies to the restroom vents again. Evade the greasel in the vents and go all the way along and then right. Climb down two ladders. Open the vent here and make your way back to the room with the ROM module computer which you visited last time, adjoined by the hexagonal corrider where you dropped your crate.

There are two MJ12 commandos flanking the corridor, and a patrolling trooper with a GEP gun. Get their attention by standing in front of them, then run around the balcony and duck into the shadows so that they lose you. Collect your crate and go through the hexagonal corridor. Alginon uses stealth to get past the patrolling trooper here, but if you're lucky you can distract him at the same time as the other three guards. Use 55655 to get to Level 2.

Alginon's run

Alginon loses his first chunk of bioelectricity to the spider tank here.

Ultimate Run The Second

In the MJ12 facility, you'll have to use your supply crate to sneak past the spider bot and the patrolling MJ12 commando and GEP gun trooper. This is difficult even with quick-saves, but it can be done without taking damage or indeed losing any bioelectricity.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake loses a little bioelectricity to the tank and takes a few attempts evading the MJ12 commandos to get in beneath the hand again. Getting into the hexagonal corridor takes many more attempts.

I found these sections very inconsistent myself, so it's reassuring to see that inconsistency in a speedrun too.

13. Universal Constructor

Daedalus will give you the code 525 to destroy the UC. Drop into the trapdoor and find the datacube for the UC door code, 768. Immediately use 768 to open the six doors. Duck under the ramp and use the crate to block the blue laser so you don't trigger the bots. Bye bye crate.

Wait for the MJ12 commando to pass, then sneak up behind the scientist and use her computer without being seen. Use MChow/DAMOCLES again to unlock the doors to the UC chamber. The security camera will see you, but if you're quick it won't matter. Descend to the UC. There's a medical bot after the second ladder, if you need it. Use 525 to destroy the UC. Escape without confronting Maggie Chow. Avoid the karkian in the waterlogged tunnels and swim to the exit, stopping for air. Return to Tong yet again, then head for New York.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake gets past a large bot by apparently jumping through an unbroken glass window and crawling down a tunnel full of electricity... amazing. They bring the steel crate with them into the UC area, so they can "ride" it straight down to the bottom of the UC facility, skipping long ladders and avoiding any fall damage.

14. Stanton Dowd

Enter the Underworld Tavern through the back route and arrange the Dowd meeting. Also speak to the seaman at the bar and agree to check out the odd goings-on at the naval base for him. Meet Dowd at the burnt-out warehouse.

If you had any explosives at this point, you'd be able to return to Jock on the roof of the 'Ton. Unfortunately, you don't, which means you'll have to visit Smuggler before Jock will appear. His lair is near the subway station entrance; you'll be given the password "bloodshot" in dialogue before you get there.

Use a storage crate to jump over the blue lasers which trigger the security bot. Speak to Smuggler but you won't need to buy anything. On your way back, don't worry about the lasers, the bot is friendly now.

When you return from Smuggler's to Hell's Kitchen, you'll have a small amount of time before MJ12 troops spawn all over the streets and mow you down. You should be able to make it to the 'Ton Hotel's front entrance before this happens. Exit via Paul's window to the 'Ton roof.

Alginon's run

Alginon had already visited Smuggler in segment 3, of course.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

The hardest part of this segment? Getting up the ladder to the 'Ton roof without being shot by MJ12.

15. Naval Base

You can speak to the seaman at the gate to get the key. Go into East Warehouse, almost directly ahead, and collect a metal crate. Go back outside, find the building with the darkened office at the rear, and drop the crate below the window. Attract the nearby guard's attention. Your aim is to get the guard to blow up the window using a LAM, letting you climb in. This is easier than it sounds. If you're fortunate, the guard will blow himself up as well.

From the datacube on the desk inside, get the code 2249 for the East Warehouse security office. Go back there and enter the security office using 2249. Collect the Ammunition Storage key from below the desk inside. Stop in the restroom on the way out. From the datacube on the floor, get the sub pen code, 0909.

Go to Ammunition Storage and unlock it with the key you just found. Press button #1, which unlocks a unit containing TNT crates. Take this to the blue lasers and drop it briefly to block them while you sneak through.

Use stealth to get to the door just behind the huge crane, and 0909 to get into the sub pen itself. Take a look at the cube on the desk next to the seated (friendly?) guard to get the PRCS Wall Cloud ramp code, 6655. Use the ramp to sneak aboard the freighter and to the upper levels, staying behind the patrolling sailors. Drop your TNT crate at the door leading to the lower decks.

Enter the sickbay. Go through the vent to the storage room. Read a datacube for the login root/reindeerflotilla. Sneak through a different vent, up a ladder (this is tricky without the flashlight) and then left to drop into the captain's quarters. Steal the key to the lower decks from his nightstand. From a datacube on his desk, get the armory door code, 71324. Go to the armory and escort the two additional TNT crates to the lower decks with you, unlocking the door with the key you just acquired.

You should now be below decks with three TNT crates.

Alginon's run

Alginon's strategy for this segment and the next two is slightly less optimised. He uses one extra TNT crate and a lot of backtracking to Ammunition Storage is involved. In the sickbay, he also obtains the code 9753 to raise the bridge in engineering.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Rather than muck about cajoling a seaman into throwing a LAM in the right place, Pancake goes straight to the East Warehouse security office and opens one of the desk cupboards to get the login USFEMA/Security. This they use on a nearby security terminal and unlock the door to the room with the Ammunition Storage key. Much faster! They do collect the 0909 code at the same time, though.

Looks like there's no real reason to avoid triggering those blue lasers if we move fast enough.

Pancake gets the KZhao/captain login just before getting the armory code - this works as an alternative to root/reindeerflotilla later, but doesn't require a detour to the storage room. We also use a chair to block the sailors.

16. Wall Cloud

The first weld point is in the far left corner of the engine room, behind a high wall. Push a barrel up to the wall and stand on it to throw your crate over. This will take a few attempts - if your crate hits machinery on the other side, it won't explode. After you do this, Chinese military will storm the engine room. Evade them.

Collect your second TNT crate from above decks and use it to take out the second weld point in the engine room. Again, evade the soldiers.

Take your third TNT crate to place where the electrician isn't fixing the electricity. Throw it into the electrified room to take out weld point number three.

There are two more TNT crates stacked near the electrician. Take one along the corridor and up into the ventilation system. Follow the vents to reach the helipad at the rear of the ship, taking just a little falling damage. Bomb weld point number four at the far rear and then escape into the nearby grating, returning to the electrified room. Dodge the spider bot to return to the electrician.

Alginon's run

Alginon uses 9753 to raise the bridge in engineering, then uses an extra TNT crate to bomb the window in the control room over the bridge. This gives access to a large pipe which leads to the first weld point.

Ultimate Run The Second

To avoid the ventilation system you just need to go through the electrified room twice.

General strategy for this spider bot and all future spider bots: Save the game while the bot is motionless, then let it move in a random direction. If it moves away from you, save again and start moving yourself. If not, reload the game and try again. Repeat.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake doesn't use the vents to reach the helipad, but goes through the gratings in both directions. They appear to get good luck with the spider bots.

17. Cemetery

Get the last TNT crate from near the electrician, then bring it to the bilge pumps room, which is full of Chinese military and extremely difficult to handle stealthily. Alginon blows up most of the guards in this room at the same time as he hits the weld point. Use the root/reindeerflotilla login and remember to push the button to start the ship sinking. Leave the ship as before. You can heal yourself again in the ship's sickbay on the way out. Ignore Tong's suggested exit route and leave the sub pen the way you came in. Take the big crane elevator up to the roof for your rendezvous.

At the cemetery, before speaking to Dowd, collect a crate from the mausoleum. Move the painting in the cryptkeeper's hut and use the (obvious?) code 1234 to expose the shield generator. You'll have to throw the crate at the cryptkeeper's head twice so he attacks you with his stealth pistol; then, stand next to the generator so that he shoots it by accident.

Speak to Dowd, then escape stealthily using the tunnels.

Ultimate Run The Second

Doing the bilge pumps room without taking damage took many attempts. I suggest using a supply crate as cover to reach the computer and reverse the bilge pumps first. Then leave the room entirely and save. Now you have a relatively clear shot at the exit once you bomb the weld point.

If you cram yourself into the corner and the cryptkeeper shoots only the generator, it's possible to take no damage from either the cryptkeeper or the generator explosion. However, this takes a few attempts.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake uses KZhao/captain on the computer, not root/reindeerflotilla. Good enemy evasion in the bilge bumps room. Pancake takes a fraction of limb damage while escaping the freighter.

They also manipulate the cryptkeeper into walking into the generator, destroying it.

18. Paris

In Paris, use platform jumping to get halfway down the elevator shaft. You can do this without taking falling damage on the second drop - the trick is to quick-save in the middle of the second jump, then quick-load. Divert into a hidden ventilation shaft.

Navigating this section is extremely difficult without the flashlight, but you can get to an unlocked hatch leading into the irradiated area. Run through as fast as you can, taking 60 points of torso damage in five hits of 12, leaving you with 40% torso health. Sneak past the greasels.

Steal three or four crates from the metro station and stack them at the blocked-up doorway to get over the boards. Make your way into the catacombs.

Sneak through and press the secret brick to speak to Chad, who'll give you a key to proceed further. After a little while you'll find a TNT crate on your right. Leave this at the sewer exit from the catacombs, for future reference.

Alginon's run

Alginon takes 72 points of torso damage in six hits, rather than the minimum of 60.

Rather than stack crates, Alginon's quicker but riskier technique is to taunt an MJ12 commando into shooting rockets at the blocked-up doorway while standing beside it.

Alginon also has a different use for that TNT crate. Take it all the way out of the catacombs back to the metro station, and use it to take out the two MJ12 troopers. This gives you access to a medical bot inside.

Ultimate Run The Second

The radioactive section is the only part in the game where you absolutely must take damage. This leaves you with 40% torso health and everything else full, from now to the end of the game.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Looks like there's an alternate way to drop into the elevator shaft and glance off some beams to avoid taking falling damage, but it seems finicky and inconsistent.

19. Catacombs

Sneak further through the catacombs, making your way to the turret-defended corridor, which you can circumvent using the passage behind the crucifix.

Inside the bunker, you need the sewer key from the table at the far end, beside the Woman In Black. Drop into the pool and swim to the far end, taking some drowning damage. Collect the key. You can evade the enemies on the return route by rushing up the ramp to the balcony area. By confronting the MJ12 commando up here, it causes the commando to run for the alarm and summon help. All the enemies then rush up the ramp to follow you - but on the other side of the room from the ramp, there's a ladder down, which none of the enemies can use, so you can double back behind them.

Leave the catacombs through the sewer exit. There's only one route you can take out of the sewers and it leads into a nest of guards, so run for it, still with the TNT crate. Go to the restaurant and meet Jaime Reyes to get Gunther's killphrase.

Take your crate into the club's rear entrance.

Alginon's run

Alginon used that TNT crate to get to the medical bot in the metro station. Instead he retrieves one from beside the Woman In Black.

Ultimate Run The Second

You don't want to swim the underwater section - in fact, with 40% torso health remaining it probably isn't possible. Using stealth and extreme patience, as well as the technique with the ladder, it is possible to acquire the key and return to the crucifix passage on foot, without being hurt.

20. Chateau DuClare

Bomb the back door of the club. This is the only way to get into the club for free and without using items. Speak to Nicolette and take the chopper to the chateau.

You can get in through the boarded-up door by crouch-jumping into the gap between two of the planks, then opening the door directly. Go upstairs and get the key to Beth's bedroom from behind the vase on the small table on the landing. Inside her bedroom, move the painting and retrieve the wine cellar key and the login bduclare/nico_angel.

Go down to the kitchen and the wine cellar, then the secret section. To get into the computer room, push the explosive barrel under the window, then climb above with a crate and throw the crate at the barrel to blow the window out. You can alternatively climb over the two wooden blockages using crates. Don't worry about the return route, Nicolette breaks the blockages with her face as she walks.

Use bduclare/nico_angel on the computer. Exit via the same window. Meet Nicolette on the way out and get the crypt key, then leave through the back door. Sneak past more MJ12 troopers into the crypt.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

In the cellar, by wriggling into the first blockage, we can make Nicolette break it for us, instead of using explosive barrels. This seems inconsistent, though, and Pancake gets very bad luck here. We can use a supply crate to bypass the second blockage.

21. Cathedral

Stack crates to get over the first gate.

Speed will get you to the first big bot and stealth will get past it by hiding behind bollards. Run to the cathedral.

The doors are all locked, leaving no way to enter at ground level. Use the trellis around to the right to get to the roof. The first sniper patrols back and forth between the towers; evade him to get to the far tower. The second sniper patrols randomly inside the second tower - he spends most of his time looking at the wall, which is also easy to sneak past. The third sniper is inside the second tower staring directly at the stairs you're descending - you have to quickly drop into the stairwell, taking a little falling damage on the beams. Run away down the stairs. All of this takes some precision timing which is much harder than the video makes it look.

Make your way up the other tower to the dormitory where the Woman In Black is waiting. Read the nearby book to get the vault code 1942, the door code 0022 and the login 34501/08711 for the computer downstairs. Backtracking, sneak past the MJ12 trooper and the camera to get to the sealed heavy door, then use 0022 to get through it. Use Gunther's killphrase on Gunther (or, if you don't have it, climb the ladder and head near the secret door. He will take the long way around to reach you, giving you plenty of time to access the computer). Use 34501/08711 on the computer.

The only exit is back the way you came, past the troublesome third sniper. Attract his attention, then climb on the short wall and follow him as he returns to his post, slipping behind him and continuing up the stairs. You can then sneak past the other two snipers and descend from the roof the same way you ascended, via the trellis.

Return to the subway station.

Alginon's run

To get past sniper three, go into the vault (1942) and get a metal crate, use it to block the sniper's viewpoint, then use it to break a fall from the nearby window.

Ultimate Run The Second

To avoid the falling damage at sniper three, you need to make sure you jump all the way across the stairwell to the far side, instead of just dropping onto the beam below.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake also steals a key from the same table as the Woman In Black's book. Later, when exiting the cathedral, this key can be used to unlock a door at ground level, so no need to exit past the snipers.

Turns out you can use the main MJ12 computer from behind, preventing Gunther from ever making contact with you.

22. Morgan Everett

Meet Atanwe and travel to Everett's home. Get healed again and speak to Everett. Speak to the odd mechanic at the helipad, then go back and tell Everett about it before boarding the helicopter. The only reason for this is that otherwise, Jock's helicopter will explode at Area 51, and you'll risk taking damage.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake skips the mechanic, for expediency.

23. Vandenberg

Get the 5868 backup power generator code from Carla.

Take the stairs down from the roof, hopping over the railing to land behind the camera. Collect a metal crate and take it back up to the roof, then use it to break your fall to the much lower ledge, taking no falling damage. Enter the main building through the door, descend the long vertical room and use a crate to emerge through the vent into the turret-filled hub room.

Hurry up the stairs to the meeting room with the holographic globe. Take an office chair with you as you drop down and stealthily use the medical bot near Stacy. Speak to Stacy to get the login command/zebra42.

Use the chair to block/trip the lasers on the way out. Hurry across the hub room and back to the room where the MIB and the two troopers are standing. Here you can use Stacy's login on the computer to switch the turrets to your side. Leave the two cameras active, though. You need to be seen by them in order for the turrets to come online at all.

Use the turrets to eliminate the troopers and MIB. This will let you through to the back area where you can activate the first backup unit (5868 again).

Lure the two MJ12 commandos from the main entrance into the hub room to get them killed. You can now head outside and left around the exterior of the building to reach the second backup unit (same code).

You can now go into the shed and activate the friendly bots. If you're lucky, the friendly bots will take out all four enemy bots for you. If not, you can use the TNT crates inside the command centre to finish the job manually.

Go into the locked comms building, now open, and enter the trapdoor at the rear.

Alginon's run

Alginon does all of this in a slightly different order.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake drops all the way from the roof onto a ladder near the exterior backup unit, avoiding falling damage. We use a vent to re-enter the central part of the main block, then use the nearby TNT crate to take out the two troopers and Man In Black.

Waiting for the bots to finish fighting each other is time-consuming. Pancake shepherds the friendly bots around when possible.

24. Towards Gary Savage

Open the first panel and hit button number one.

Rush past the first spider bots, taking some damage, and hop the blue lasers. Immediately turn right and duck into the ventilation shaft. Drop through the grate in the floor into the water. Swim down to retrieve the maintenance nanokey. Grab some air and then swim through to the next section and up the stairs. Open the door using the button and turn left: you're now back near where you started, just behind the turret.

Rush past all the spider bots a second time. This time turn left instead of right, unlock the door and climb the ladder inside. Crawl along the pipes above the radioactive spillage. Drop carefully to the bottom of the storage area, dropping behind the next spider bot, then run past it and up the stairs to the control room for the bridge. Hit button 3 to raise it to the position you need. You can now run back down a floor, through some blue lasers (which trigger traps which are behind you, so no matter) and up some more stairs to get back to the bridge. Evade one final spider bot to get the key, then return to the main Vandenberg map via ladder. You can now unlock the sealed control center in the main building and see Gary Savage. And, of course, heal yourself.

Alginon's run

Alginon loses the last of his bioelectricity to these spiders. He is empty from this point until the end of the game.

He also trips the blue lasers, which is not necessary.

Ultimate Run The Second

Getting past the two bots unharmed is close to impossible and takes an insane amount of luck - or rather, quick-save abuse. It's easiest if the bots become separated, both far from the turret, so you can deal with them distinctly. With luck, only one of them will be in your way when you loop back around. If you are not seen, you can do this taking no damage and also losing no bioelectricity.

Dropping to the bottom of the storage area involves taking some falling damage unless you are able to jump from level 3 to the shelf on the far side at level 2.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake stays on the pipes for longer, and drops on the far side near the dead body with the key. No business with the bridge.

Luring MJ12 troopers away from the entrance to the control center proves troublesome.

25. Gas Station

After speaking to Savage, use the pushcart to block electricity in the electrified room, so that you move to the switch on the far wall. Jump across the cylinders to reach the elevator. After that, you can get to the computer upstairs by timing your movement through the arcs, or just run through and take the damage.

You should now heal yourself at the bot near Stacy, because you won't see another medical bot until the Area 51 bunker.

At the gas station, go straight ahead and you can collect the key from the dead body under the collapsed overpass. Return to unlock the service door and climb up to the gas station level.

There is no strategy for rescuing Tiffany. Alginon climbs on top of the nearby tanker trailer and attracts the attention of an MJ12 commando, thereby raising the alarm and letting Tiffany be killed. Then, he hides inside the tanker itself until the alarm dies down before escaping.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake skips the pushcart business and just dodges the electricity beams.

We steal a supply crate and use it to climb the broken highway section, reaching the gas station area more easily. We also run right up to the Man In Black so we can be seen through the grate, prompting the conclusion of the mission, and evading the MJ12 commandos.

26. Sub Base

Jump into the Pacific and swim for the red-lit area below the first offshore module. This is your entry point. Avoid divers in the water. Use stealth to exit the pool undetected, climb the ladder to the previous module, collect a metal crate and return. Useful fact: these two troopers always turn left. Sneak across the gangway to the next module, staying behind the trooper with the flamethrower. You can place the crate on the barrier and to block this enemy's line of sight. Head down the elevator to the first underwater module.

Drop your crate somewhere near the elevator. Dodge the next guards and the turrets to get to the lab with the canisters of Gray Death and Ambrosia. Move up on the left side and speak to the female scientist for the login tech/sharkman for the minisub bay doors.

Go back towards your crate and open the computer terminal you passed on the way in. Use tech/sharkman to switch the allegiance of the turret here. This will take out the MJ12 trooper you just snuck past twice. Intentionally trip the alarm and lure more guards down from the next module to be mown down by the turrets. Once the module ahead is safe, collect your metal crate and head along to the sub bay. Use the login to open the doors. Hold your crate while using the sub: you'll take the crate with you to the ocean floor.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake just goes straight for the third module, no backtracking to retrieve the steel crate. They also skip the turret business and just sneak past everybody.

27. Ocean Floor

Try to be quick in the first part of this level. The greasels in the labs are distracted eating scientist corpses, but after a while they finish up and starting moving around - this can make them almost impossible to avoid.

The room with the insane turret is incredibly difficult to get past without losing a huge amount of health. Although there are two supply crates available in the sub bay, the turret can easily see through these and shoot through them, so they do not serve as cover. You can use the screens on the left side of the room as cover. It is possible to crawl along the ground behind them and the turret won't see you. But the game won't let you crawl right into this gap, you need to do a dangerous and fiddly jump of some kind. It's also possible to crouch on the ledge behind the screens themselves. Here, you need to be directly behind one of the four vertical posts in order to hide from the turret. Making matters worse is that the game is picky about exactly when it will let you pick up a crate or throw it. Usually, you'll need to be out of cover before you can do either of these things. And, of course, you cannot jump while carrying a crate.

This said, your technique is as follows. Throw your metal crate into the room, halfway between the door and the screens. Go downstairs and collect a supply crate. Throw this on top of the metal crate. This does not provide a safe passage down the left side, but you should be able to dash into the crawlspace unharmed anyway. Move the supply crate to the other end of the screens and throw it out into the gap, halfway from the screens to the next door. Throw the metal crate out on top of it. Although the turret can still see if you if you stand behind this pile, its shots should hit the metal crate, which is positioned between you and it at chest height. If your stack is built correctly, you can now open the next door, although don't be surprised if the turret nicks a limb as you exit.

Push the big metal crate up towards the next turret, hiding behind it for safety. Push it the bare minimum distance and keep it in the middle of the corridor if you can, because you'll be coming back this way later and this leaves you with the maximum amount of cover. You can now collect the key. Retreat and use the key to get into the greasel laboratory. Sneak past the greasels to the ladder at the far side, and down. Swim through the door opposite the ladder and through the next door. In the flooded lab, read the datacube under the fallen lamp to get the tunnel code, 5690. Now go back (avoiding the greasel again) and open the tunnel to the room with the electrical discharge. Read the datacube on the corner of the desk for the oceanguard/kraken login.

In the large excavated area, go right. Collect the nanokey to the next section from the same table. In the main room, if you want, pull down the slider to electrify the rails. This will kill the greasels that chase you.

There is a third turret in the crew module. Alginon runs straight past it, somehow taking no damage - I haven't figured out the trick here.

Blunder through the blue lasers and run away from the spider bots. Wait for the spider tank to be looking the wrong way and then summon the elevator. While it's coming, dive into the water and read the datacube for the MJ12/SKYWALKER login for the UC computer. The water is electrified so you'll lose a little bioelectricity - I got away with 90% remaining but I didn't spend much time optimising this, you might be able to do better. Take the elevator up and use that login to extend the bridge, then use it again on the far side to upload the UC schematics, then exit the UC complex.

Ultimate Run The Second

For the turret in the crew module, I ended up backtracking all the way to the security terminal in the sub bay, where I used oceanguard/kraken to turn it off.

Take a supply crate from the excavation area. For the UC section, drop the supply crate to block the blue laser and trigger the spider bots, then retreat. Unusually, these bots become inert once the alarm passes, so you can then duck the other lasers and move freely.

After retrieving the SKYWALKER password, you should be at 40% torso health and 90% bioelectricity.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake evades the first turret by standing directly underneath it, making one trip out to open the door and then retreat back into cover, then a second trip to actually go through the open door. Much faster...

Pancake passes the second troublesome turret by sidestepping, intentionally taking damage in one arm only, not the critical torso or head.

Pancake uses a steel crate to drop from the bridge to the bottom again instead of using the elevator again.

28. Walton Simons

To kill Simons without using items, run away from him (avoiding contact) and through to the office area just before the excavated section where he confronts you. Duck under the desk and wait while the electricity in this room gradually fries him to death. It's possible for Simons to lose track of you and wait somewhere he's not being damaged. In this case, try throwing the office chair to attract his attention again. As long as you can hear him grunting with pain from the electric shocks, you can be sure it's working, but this process can take up to fifteen minutes depending on where in the room Simons comes to rest.

Use stealth to evade the MJ12 diver and the greasel and escape up the ladder to the greasel lab. Head back the way you came passing the two wild turrets. Use oceanguard/kraken to unlock the sub bay doors again. Make your way back through the sub base, using stealth to get past the guards you didn't take out on the way in. Climb the ladder in the first module to get to the roof and make the rendezvous with Jock.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake ignores Simons and just keeps running. Simons is not killed in this run... we completely bypass the second confrontation at Area 51.

Getting back past the first troublesome turret involves diving behind the panels, as in prior runs.

After returning to the Pacific base, the faster way to return to shore is to go out through the subway doors, surface, and swim back to your original (red-lit) module entry point from there.

29. Missile Silo

Spam the quick save key while this level is loading to set a save point before Savage starts talking. This will help with timing and placement of enemies. The first part of this mission is extremely difficult and inconsistent. The silo exterior has many MJ12 troopers including one extremely dangerous sniper on the observation tower - he is the main one to avoid. There are still no medical bots.

Run left and past the dogs, around to the left side of the barracks. Run around and open the front door, then run straight upstairs ignoring the troopers. Open the door upstairs - close it in the troopers' faces - and cross the gangway to get into the central section of the base. Duck and drop left off the gantry as soon as you're over the main fence. If timed properly, you should be able to hide here for a moment as the troopers return to their posts.

Proceed straight on, passing a small building and two explosive barrels on your left. Follow the side of the building around two left turns, staying crouched to avoid detection. You'll come to an open doorway on your left. Go inside and up the stairs. Sneak past another seated trooper and out onto the roof. Pay attention to the sniper in the tower. With good timing, you can sneak left and then dash across the second bridge into a third and final building. Enter the door, descend the ladder and drop through the grate to a stairwell. You're now at the missile blast doors.

Use the code that Gary Savage gave you at the start of this level, 8456, three times to get to the cylindrical tunnel with red lasers at the end. Throw a crate to block/trigger them, then run away until the alarm dies down, making it possible to sneak through. There are three MIBs and one MJ12 commando. Two MIBs will return to their seats upstairs and the commando has a fixed patrol route. The third MIB is the only real variable.

At a good moment, sneak through the lasers and left, then right and up the ladder. Crouch as you reach the top to avoid being seen by the spider bot. Move around the ceiling section and drop into the bathroom. Read the datacube for the Elder/Armageddon login to the missile base computer. Use a metal crate to climb out again.

Go upstairs. Push the switch in front of the MIB on the right to abort the launch. Sneak up to the computer terminal and use Elder/Armageddon to change the missile target. Astoundingly, it is in fact possible to do both of these things without entering either MIB's field of vision. Just sneak up behind them.

Run away to the final missile door and reach the final cylindrical corridor. Open the grate in the floor at the near end and wait for the guards at the far end to notice you before jumping in and falling into the water at the bottom of the silo. Summon the elevator and go to floor 4 (not floor 3, there are nasty spider bots), then hop over the railings to land directly on Howard Strong's head, killing him. This necessitates a little leg damage. Summon the elevator again and go to floor 6 to escape via ladder.

Alginon's run

Alginon just runs through the red lasers - risky. He also uses crates as makeshift cover in the upstairs room with the MIBs.

Ultimate Run The Second

Although it's very inconsistent, you can go to floor 2 and hide almost directly below Howard Strong and taunt him so that he blows himself up with a LAM. This saves you the leg damage.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Rather than run around the perimeter of the base, Pancake hops up and down near the base entrance to get the attention of MJ12 troopers inside. They open the gate for them.

Triggering the red lasers lures the Men In Black away from the nuclear missile controls, which helps.

30. Area 51

Throughout this section, pay attention to the location of the sniper in the tower, who can take you out in one shot.

Sneak into the bombed-out warehouse. Crawl up the stairs on the right, avoiding the attention of the enemies in here, and along the catwalk to speak to the soldier in the building in the far corner. He gives you the blast door login, a51/xx15yz. Crawl out in the same way.

Go to the comms hut and get the tower key from inside. Unlock the tower, disable a LAM, climb up and use the computer without being seen by the sniper. Open the blast doors using a51/xx15yz.

Getting through the section immediately behind the blast doors requires cover. Take two small metal crates from the southeast corner of the map. Stack them as cover and push them down the tunnel towards the camera, creating a relatively safe waypoint halfway down...

Alginon's run

Alginon's procedure is extremely slow. Use the two small crates to trap the bot at the bottom of the ramp. This creates a safe route down the other ramp. Next, get a big crate from the same corner and this time push it all the way to the blast doors and through, using it for cover. This will take a long time, because you don't have the strength augmentation which would allow you to pick it up.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake doesn't do any of this! Read on!

31. Bunker

Get the supply crate from the bombed-out warehouse. The crate is large enough to hide behind but small enough to carry. Use it as cover from the bots and make your way to the room on the right. Throw a TNT crate (nearby) at the locked door on the left to turn on the power. Head back down the other branch of the fork, using cover as before. Descend to Page's bunker.

Let the machine explode, then go to the holographic communicator to get Morgan Everett's code for the Sector 2 security grid, which is 8946. Go to the staff dormitory and use this code to get in, dodging the bot. Here, finally, you can heal yourself!

Once the bot has passed the door, go along the corridor to the mess and use the same code to get in. Dash up to the table and read the datacube to get the code 0169 to one of the bed chambers. Leave immediately to avoid death, although you can expect to get shot in the back on the way out. Go back to the bed chamber in question, open it using the code and get the key for sector 3. Heal again.

Now you need to get to the sector 3 door, but it's heavily defended. Go back towards the machine that exploded and collect an explosive barrel from the wall. Push this into the other corridor, the one without the staff rooms. Push it all the way up the corridor, staying behind it for cover until you're as close as possible to the MJ12 commando at the end. Leave the barrel there and rush into the trapdoor at the far right, behind the bioelectricity charge bot. Wait below until people stop looking for you.

Alginon's run

Between segment 30 and segment 31, Alginon goes and fetches a second large crate from the same corner as the first. This would have been quite tedious which is why it was skipped, I think. Alginon then moves the crates alternately, staying between them to hide from both bots.

Alginon also uses an extra TNT crate to take out those blue lasers. But it's entirely possible to jump over them.

Ultimate Run The Second

Escaping the mess room without being hurt requires some luck and great speed, but can be done. Getting into the trapdoor in the final section, likewise.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

Pancake goes straight for the bombed-out warehouse and takes a steel crate into the huge fan here. Throwing the crate at the fan repeatedly destroys the fan blades eventually and we can drop straight in. This, incidentally, totally avoids the seemingly unavoidable second confrontation with Walton Simons.

Looks like the mess room can be overcome using stealth too.

Pancake also skips the hiding in the trapdoor. Great evasion on show here.

32. Hunting Bob Page

With extreme care, sneak out of the trapdoor and over to the ladder, then out of the ladder into the corner, then behind the two MJ12 troopers and up to the Sector 3 door. Unlock it and proceed through, summoning the elevator. Draw the fire of the three enemies and lead them around in a loop so that you can dive into the elevator.

In the next sector, activate the fork lift and use it to climb up to the vent above. Through the vent, ascend the stairs, all while crouched. At the top is Station 17. Sneak behind the MIB and left, through the door next to the Ambrosia canister. Through the next door, you'll find a datacube with the Lab B13 security login, area51/bravo13.

Go back to the security terminal that's right behind the MIB and open the door corresponding to the first camera. This gives you access to the antimatter reactor. Go downstairs and use a supply crate to get out of the stairwell again via the same vent. Go to the reactor access door. Sneak through the reactor area and speak to the engineer for the Aquinas Hub code, 1038. Exit past the spider bots and use the fork lift again to get back into the stairwell. Enter the Aquinas Hub, where you can heal yourself again. After the ladder, use stealth to get along the windowed passage, staying behind the MJ12 commando. Speak to Helios.

Wait quietly while Helios' bots take out the new enemies. Then, use stealth to pass the greys, a greasel and an MJ12 trooper to reach the bottom of the large hall. Crawl beneath the pipes on the right to get to the blast door without being seen by the spider tank. Alternatively you can just drop down here from the monorail terminal, but you'll take damage from the fall and probably the spider tank.

In the clone room, quickly go left to trigger the scripted explosion. If you don't do this, the medical bot in this room can wander out of position and get blown up as well, which is undesirable. Heal yourself again. Go below the stairs near the medical bot and read a datacube for the login LAB 12/GRAYTEST.

Go to the terminal just before the grays' pen, staying crouched so that they don't see you, and enter the actual login (!) which is a username of GRAYTEST and a password of LAB12 (no space). Use this to flush the radioactive content out of the grays' pen and open the far door. Sneak through - remember, although the environment is no longer radioactive, the grays themselves are, and standing near them hurts you even if they aren't looking at you.

Alex will contact you with the first three digits of the blue fusion reactor codes: 724*. The last digit is 3, easily guessed through trial and error.

Confront Bob Page. It's time to pick an ending.

Ultimate Run The Second

Careful, standing near Page causes damage.

Note also that because of the turrets protecting Page, it is not possible to reach the corridor on the right without being hit, only the one on the left. This limits your options for moving through Sector 4.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

This area is rejigged a bit. Pancake uses a steel crate to jump into the pool with the octagonal cylinders, retrieving a stairwell key and the code for the reactor room, 2001. Several greasels are evaded on the way out. This skips the business with the fork lift and the Lab B13 login.

There is a bug where we can trigger the reactor early at this point, which is used in other Deus Ex speed run categories, but for this run we ignore it. It does seem counter to the spirit of this category.

On the way back from the reactor we can use the key, instead of the fork lift, to get into the stairwell.

On the way back from speaking with Helios, it's possible to jump from the bridge to the large octagonal opening and then drop from there to the area with the spider tank and the pipes, mostly without taking fall damage. Leg damage matters much less at this stage in the run.

33. Helios Ending

From Page, dash left and then take three rights to arrive at the nanotech infusion control panel. Make sure to go near the two heavy sealed doors, to trigger Helios' dialogue in which it gives you the page/uberalles login. Take the elevator down to Aquinas substation room, which explodes.

Make your way through the arcs to reach the terminal at the far left. Use page/uberalles to open the Aquinas substation, then exit the room via the elevator again. You will almost certainly take significant electrical damage in this room, that's if you don't die a bunch of times.

Go to the Aquinas router room. Engage the fibre optic channels and use the Icarus/panopticon login that Helios gives you to activate the router.

Return past Page, the greys, the medical bot in the clone room, the spider bot in the hall and the remaining MJ12 forces to the Aquinas hub.

Alginon's run

Alginon reaches the bottom of Sector 4 by dropping from the nanotech infusion panel to the crate on the floor below, taking falling damage, then to the pipe below that and finally to the ground floor. Dash into the grey door on your left. Read the datacube next to the dead engineer for the code 6765, then cross the ground floor, dodging animals to reach the substation.

Ultimate Run The Second

This is the very end of the game so taking damage here is not as much of a problem... nevertheless, with insane timing and dozens of retries, it is possible to do the electrified substation room without being damaged at all. The final count: 40% torso health, 90% bioelectricity.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

On arriving in the electrical damage room, Pancake intentionally blocks the lift's closing doors so as to make a quicker escape. We take some damage here although it doesn't matter.

This is Pancake's chosen ending... the others are not accessible in this run.

34. New Dark Age Ending

From Page, dash left and then take three rights to arrive at the nanotech infusion control panel. Drop from here to the crate on the floor below, taking falling damage, then to the pipe below that and finally to the ground floor. Dash for the grate on your left. Crawl along to the red-lit room and push the button to expose a flooded tunnel below.

Swim the tunnel to reach the coolant control room. You'll need full torso health for this, because you'll take a whopping 96 points of drowning damage. Even then it'll take a few attempts to get the route correct. Avoid contact with the roof of the pipe, as this causes friction.

Sneak over and hit the "flush system" button. Sneak out behind the MJ12 commando and exit to the ground floor. Rush past all the animals to the grey door near the vent you just entered. Open another vent inside and climb up the ladder to the top floor.

The rest is simple: return past Page, the greys, the medical bot in the clone room, the spider bot and the remaining MJ12 forces to the antimatter reactor chamber. You'll have to take some radiation damage to activate the two reactor failsafe switches. Go to the control room and throw the last three switches, then quickly hit "engage" before the engineer kills you.

Ultimate Run The Second

You can use Helios' elevator, described in segment 33, to reach the ground floor of Sector 4 without taking any damage. You have to skip through electricity and get lucky, but it's possible.

On a no-medbot run, you already have at least 60 points of torso damage from Paris, so you can't possibly survive the swim. Instead, hurry past animals to the far end of the main hall, where there's a slope which leads upwards to a mezzanine area with a radioactive barrel. It's possible to slip past this barrel into the corner without taking damage - here there is a datacube with the code 2242 for the coolant control room's front door. Hurry all the way back there and...

The code doesn't work. The datacube is wrong! This could be a deliberate error but it's more likely to be a bug in the game. The actual code for this door, which I discovered by delving into the game files, is 9248, but this cannot be obtained legitimately anywhere in the game. Unfortunately, this means this ending is unobtainable by the strict rules.

But if you want to carry on, using the real code... Sneak through to the far end of the coolant control room, then back again. You'll have to use the Aquinas room again to get back to the top level of Sector 4 without taking damage. You can use the struts on the walkway to hide from the spider bot while getting closer to Page, then dash past both spider bots and dodge the drone gun.

The rest is as before. The radiation damage in the final room is unavoidable but relatively minor - starting from 40% torso health, you should be fine.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

This ending is not taken, and in fact inaccessible under the conditions of this category.

35. Illuminati Ending

From Page, dash left and then take three rights to reach the nanotech infusion control panel. Drop from here to the crate on the floor below, taking falling damage.

Head through the door with the radiation sign and quickly power down the blue fusion device here, using the code 7243.

Exit down the slope and run around to the grey door near the vent, running away from the loose animals. Open the vent next to the dead engineer and ascend the ladder. Go straight on at the top of the ladder and veer left. Put the two metal crates on top of each other in front of the security bot's hutch so that it can't escape. Push a big crate into a corresponding position for the other hutch. Deactivate the second reactor device here, triggering the bots, but you can escape past them without a problem now.

Go back past Page and through the greys' pen to get healed in the clone room. Back at Page, drop to the next floor in exactly the way you did before. This time run in the opposite direction, leading all the loose greys on this floor around in a loop to the ramp which rises up over the radioactive room. Once they're all out of the way you can deactivate the third blue fusion device here using the same code as before. Cautiously drop to the ground floor and deactivate the fourth device while the karkian isn't looking.

As before, climb the tall ladder to get back to Page. Go to his control panel and hit the button.

Ultimate Run The Second

Since you only have 40% torso health, it's not possible to power down the first blue fusion device and escape alive. Unfortunately, this ending is genuinely unobtainable without using medical bots.

PancakeTaicho's 2:24:04 run

This ending is not taken, and probably impossible under the conditions of this category.

Discussion (25)

2013-09-07 23:30:12 by qntm:

This one's from the "information I seem to have gathered and have no reason not to share" department. I think it's a pretty interesting strategy, and it's fascinating how little chicanery (glitching etc.) is required. Although, the absence of game audio really is regrettable. If somebody else goes ahead with an Ultimate Run I'd love to hear about it.

2013-09-29 21:17:45 by qntm:

Having finished my own Ultimate Run I have far more respect for Alginon's achievement. Alginon makes a lot of things look extremely easy, like well-timed stealth movements and throwing TNT crates without taking damage, but in reality this run is brutally difficult even with guidance, and many seemingly simple strategies have been planned extremely carefully and have a great deal of subtlety. I had to abuse quicksave a lot, particularly in the later stages of the game, where workable techniques for evading enemies dwindle and medical bots just stop existing entirely. It's abundantly clear that Deus Ex just wasn't intended to be played like this. I think I had fun, at least for the first two thirds.

2013-10-12 00:53:08 by qntm:

I finished the game with 26,135 unused skill points.

2014-10-23 00:19:22 by qntm:

I'm now curious whether it's possible to beat the game without using medical bots either. At part 7 (NSF Headquarters), you have to allow yourself to be killed, and at part 8 (UNATCO Escape) you resume with slightly less than full health. This makes the first seven sections relatively simple to complete without using medical bots, leaving us with a shortened game. Two of the three endings are apparently impossible with this constraint. The New Dark Age ending entails an extremely damaging swim, but it's possible there are alternate routes. And the Illuminati ending requires significant radiation exposure. You also have to take heavy damage in the radioactive room at part 18 (Paris), which could make even the Helios ending impossible.

2015-02-07 23:18:39 by qntm:

So I completed another Alginon run, this time without using medical bots either. I could only reach the Helios ending, I believe it's impossible to reach the other two under these constraints. This time I finished with 24,335 unused skill points, 3200 unspent credits, 50% head health (having been sniped dead at segment 7), 40% torso health (after running through the radioactive room at segment 18) and 90% bioelectricity (having lost 10% retrieving the UC login at segment 27).

2015-03-26 19:42:52 by JCDenton:

Absolutely amazing walkthrough and a true labour of love. Thanks so much for doing this. Here's hoping the DX Revision Mod attracts new swathes of gamers to the wonder of Deus Ex.

2015-10-19 06:33:27 by Protector:

I don't know if you still care, but you can actually jump over the laser wires for the security bot in smuggler's hideout by stacking boxes.

2017-02-02 12:42:27 by Shiny1:

I am about to try this run. I didn't know about this one, but I'm super pumped. I actually just finished a no-violence run with my own made up rules. It's not as hardcore, but there is one important difference: no combat music (unless forced, e.g. blowing up the ship). To add to this, cloaking and radar transparency would have to be removed too. https://www.reddit.com/r/Deusex/comments/5r6y2v/no_violence_challenge_dx1/ I have a tip regarding Gunther Hermann in Paris. You don't ever had to talk to him. Just make him run towards you, and then climb the ladder and head near the secret door. He will take the long way out to reach you, giving you plenty of time to access the computer.

2017-08-31 01:25:16 by Si:

Regarding the 50% head damage - you take that to keep Paul Denton alive, to get Anna Navarre's killphrase, right? But if you just bail to the window, you only need to sneak (or leg it) from the 'ton to the subway, and you have a clear path to surrender to Gunther Hermann for no damage. The issue is how to kill Navarre. It seems to me that there are spare TNT crates around the airfield that could trivially be taken to the 747 - at least, trivially compared to the insane stuff you've already done. Unless I'm forgetting something REALLY obvious...

2017-08-31 02:04:21 by qntm:

That sounds like it could be another workable way to kill Anna Navarre, potentially easier even, but there is no way to move forward in the game from Paul's apartment to the MJ12 cell without being killed somehow. If you escape through the window, you get mobbed with enemies in the streets of Hell's Kitchen. If you make it as far as the subway you can get to Battery Park, but as I understand it Battery Park is flat-out inescapable, you have to die there.

2017-09-03 14:58:53 by Si:

Wait. Surrendering to Gunther via dialogue still takes away your health? Huh. I guess I just learned something. Oh well.

2017-09-03 15:15:41 by qntm:

Oh, you can surrender in dialogue? I must have forgotten that part, I thought you just kept fighting. I'm still curious whether you could actually make it across Hell's Kitchen without taking damage though. I may look into this.

2017-09-17 19:10:16 by Si:

So I did some experimenting and found that the TNT at the airfield is all in the water, within sight of the guy with the flamethrower. Personally I couldn't see how to make that work. But I do have some good news about the 'ton, along with some screenshots. https://www.sendspace.com/file/cniles You have all the time you want to set things up before annoying UNATCO, so: dx0 - TNT at the subway gate, ready for Navarre dx1 - My first attempt. A guard on the north street got through the gap in the small barricade, letting him between me and my goal. The nearby guard on the east street went behind the long barricade. dx2 - Take 2. The north barricade is complete and neither the bot nor the guards will ever bother me. The long barricade is closer to the wall, and now the guard is where he should be. Note that only he and the bot are of any concern. After 3 runs, I made it with 1 bullet wound (11% damage) to my leg. No-one followed me down the stairs. dx3 - Take 3. Both metal crates can be pushed around the north building without dropping to street level, so no strength aug was needed. dx4 - Any spare TNT can be taken to the roof :) And I can confirm that surrendering via dialogue does NOT take away health.

2017-09-18 18:02:39 by Si:

An alternative route: through the MJ12 sewers. In my screenshots you can see the sewer exit right next to the subway. A much smaller barricade will do the job here. 2 TNT crates will clear the gun turrets. The key isn't needed on this version of the map, nor is mj12/coupdetat since the bridge starts in the correct position. Be careful - 2167 is needed if you try to come back through. According to your walkthrough, you use 1 TNT to get the login in the basement, and I used 2 in the sewer and 1 for Navarre, total 4. There are only 3 in the open in the NSF headquarters, so you need to find tjefferson/newrevolution behind the trashbags outside and get 1-2 TNT from the other end of the basement.

2017-09-18 18:34:08 by qntm:

This is all super good information. I'll definitely find time for a no-damage run where I can verify this whole strategy end-to-end and once I'm done with that I'll probably find a way to incorporate your findings into the strategy guide.

2017-09-18 18:34:55 by qntm:

Or you can just record a no-damage segmented run of your own and upload it to YouTube! I don't really have much experience with doing that kind of thing but I think it could be valuable to see.

2017-09-19 22:45:58 by qntm:

The route through the MJ12 sewers looks far easier to me based on my experiments. I believe it's possible to dodge all of the lasers, but even if you don't want to bother with that, you can run past the back of the first two turrets and then wait until the alarm dies down before running past the third for the far exit. After that, you can just crouch and wait patiently below the exit trapdoor and sneak into the subway station. Overall it only takes a minute or two. Much simpler than your amazing barricade construction. Once back at Battery Park, it's even possible to run past Anna Navarre and surrender to Gunther, delaying the Anna Navarre fight until the usual time inside UNATCO. Are there TNT crates in UNATCO?

2017-09-20 19:26:01 by Si:

I believe there are 2 in the robot bay near the armoury. In a normal run I would hack the bot AI to kill the guards for me - I have no idea where the login is!

2017-09-20 19:56:42 by Si:

D'oh! Hit enter a bit too soon. The mechanic can be bribed for the login, but that's not possible in this run.

2017-09-20 20:21:29 by qntm:

I was able to sneak across the robot maintenance bay, pilfer a TNT crate and sneak back with it. No bribery, hacking or passwords required. It took a bunch of quick-loads but it wasn't too challenging. After that I took the crate all the way out of the MJ12 facility to UNATCO. Using it to kill Anna Navarre takes some technique. The technique I used was to drop the crate at the top of the stairs on the left, then go around and confront her from the right. Then I ran away down the stairs, up the other stairs and picked up the crate, throwing at her head from above just as she came around the corner. I guess that would work out to 40% torso health and 90% bioelectricity by the end. Thanks for the suggestions! I'll do a few rewrites here and there to make them available.

2017-09-20 21:23:09 by Si:

Success! I thought it could be done. Not that it matters now, but the login is mj12/invader and it's also available near medical. I thought you might have managed it anyway, but I found sneaking to it and then to the console easier than worrying about the guards. This game really does have lots of options, even for a gimmick run as constrained as this one.

2022-11-27 08:14:42 by Abu Ibrahim:

I've been a big fan of this kind of run for a long time. I completed it but without the restrictions on using the flashlight or credits. I've currently been working on repeating the run on GMDX on Hardcore difficulty, which is insanely harder; the enemy AI is much more punishing, and saves can only be done at certain checkpoints (so save abusing is gone), in addition to all the difficulty increases of hardcore mode. This dramatically changes how the run is played. There are some new glitches that help you out; it's easier to kill enemies with well-placed crate throws, and a breath glitch allows you to swim for long distances. I've currently made it to the missile silo.

2022-11-27 08:23:03 by Abu Ibrahim:

Also, a comment on the new dark age ending: I'm not sure if you're aware, but this is actually the easiest ending, if you take advantage of a glitch. You don't even have to go to sector 4 to complete it (!!!). If you go directly to the anti-matter reactor control room, the button to blow everything to high-hell is of course protected by a glass case until you go do a bunch of other stuff. But, there is a tinnnny pixel gap that you can just press the button through anyway! Just crouch in front of the button and it should take you a few seconds of pixel hunting to find the button press prompt. Roll end-cutscene and credits. I imagine this is a huuuge timesave for the speedrunners, and I'm surprised pancaketaicho doesn't take advantage of it.

2022-11-27 08:28:55 by Abu Ibrahim:

(if you're curious as to the time-save, this would've cut pancaketaicho's run by about 11 minutes)

2023-11-24 08:55:11 by PancakeTaicho:

Hi qntm. Thank you for including the strategies from my run in your guide. Your guide was very useful when I started pursuing Ultimate Run, so thank you for all your efforts and dedication to this guide over the years. I wanted to let you know that I have an improved, segmented version of Ultimate Run with commentary on my YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/pGmZC6kOPeM?si=cCAqRuO1vxiZYCnC There have actually been a few optimizations discovered since I uploaded this run, bringing the theoretical time down to sub-1 hour and 40 minutes, but I've yet to record and edit commentary for into the current segemented video.

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