Oblivion:Route Logic
The Oblivion 100% speedrun route has several large tasks that must be optimized, each resulting in huge time saves when improved. These are the main logic pieces that make up distinct, largely modular sections of the run.
The following pages detail the general route logic behind each version of the Oblivion 100% Speedrun:
Quests
Full article: Quests
There are 208 Quests in the game, 4 "Journal-Filled" quests we can advance as far as possible without losing faction statuses, and 1 quest that cannot be started without losing faction status. A major part of the run is finding sequence breaks and optimizations to speed up how long each quest takes. The full article lists the quests that must be completed, with sub-pages per quest to thoroughly examine their quest stages and scripting.
Map Exploration
Full article: Map Exploration
One of the main challenges we need to tackle during the route is to max out the Places Found statistic in the Accomplishments Tab. There are 367 map markers to discover, several of which have logic requirements such as finding them before/after a certain stage of a quest. Since methods of acquiring massive speed boosts to explore the map require a long setup time and often cannot be done in tandem with quests and other objectives, the main focus of map exploration is to find as many locations as possible all at once rather than locating them as needed throughout the run. This portion of the route can also potentially include locating Wayshrines and Heaven Stones, but in recent revisions this has not been the case.
The Nirnroute
Full article: The Nirnroute
Similar to the map exploration challenge, we need to find the best possible way to find all of the outdoor Nirnroot. Our current method uses a traveling salesman path without any additional player speed boosts aside from the perma enchants we will already have at that point in the route logic. Most improvements to the Nirnroute have been due to improving the route materials, such as compiling reference images for each Nirnroot location. We may end up finding that some combination of Map Exploration and the Nirnroute will result in the fastest overall method. The Nirnroute currently takes a little under 2 hours to complete.
One of the main tasks of this part of the route is the Nirnroot Cataloging Project.
Oblivion Gates
Full article: Oblivion Gates
The Great Skill Grind
Full article: The Great Skill Grind
Getting all 21 skills to level 100 has been one of the largest parts of the run in all route versions up to this point. This is a massively complex task, requiring optimizing each skill's farming method, the order skills are focused on, balancing training levels vs. manually farmed levels, etc.
Recent new discoveries have further added to the complexity of the skill grind, such as the Class Reset Glitch and the Stat Underflow Glitch, which add many more routing options to consider. The skill grind has improved significantly since Version 1, going from almost 18 hours long down to under an hour.
A sub-task of the skill grind is to optimize Attribute Allocation to maximize how many character level-ups and therefore training levels we can acquire using the Infinite Level-Up Glitch.
Skill Books
Full article: Skill Books
There are 109 skill books in the game, some of which have multiple places they can be found in the game. The goal is acquire as many of these skill books as possible when we are already near them during other objectives. The full article provides a comprehensive list of all the skill books in the game and their sources.
Random Skill Books
Full article: Random Skill Books
We have to read every skill book in the game, and of the 109 skill books in the game, 13 of them can only be found in random loot. Although a few quests allow us to find a few of the random books, we are guaranteed to have to repeatedly enter a dungeon and reload until we find each book. This process has taken between 1.5 to 2 hours in past runs, making it a much higher priority now that the route is much shorter. We have found more ideal locations for checking dungeon loot that minimize travel distance per check, but the final frontier would be to discover a way to manipulate the RNG of skill book drops.
A sub-task of Random Skill Books is learning about RNG Manipulation.
Passive Player Speed
Full article: Passive Player Speed
An obvious component of the route logic is to find ways to make the player move as fast as possible in a way that is low maintenance. In the past, active methods like Skooma have proven to be tedious to maintain throughout the run, potentially causing a time loss due to difficulties in managing/executing the speed boosts. Perma enchanting is the current meta of passive player speed boosts, with focus being placed on optimizing the ratio of Athletics/Speed, how to apply the perma enchants as fast as possible, etc. Alternative methods are also being investigated such as underflowing Athletics.
Load Warping
Load Warping has dramatically cut the time needed to complete the 212 quests that we need to do, and allows for much more intricate quest interweaving. Load Warping essentially allows us to instantly teleport to any location we have previously been. Early Arcane University and Class Reset are two examples of massive time saves that are only possible due to the use of Load Warping.
Gold Farming
Full article: Gold Farming
We have calculated that the 100% route requires approximately 425,000 Gold to be able to afford every necessary transaction in the run. Although this will change slightly each route revision, we need to determine the fastest way to acquire this much gold. In the past, gold farming has taken upwards of 20 minutes, with the time currently being under 2 minutes using an optimized variation of the Dorian Glitch. There may still be room to improve this, although given how short the farming process now is, this is no longer a high priority.
Items
Full article: Items
There are several items we need for various quest requirements, enchanting, etc. We need to get each of the required items before their related objectives appear in the route, as well as determine the most consistent and convenient location to acquire each item as we do other objectives.
Spell Effects
Full article: Spell Effects
We need to make several custom spells throughout the run, which means we need to acquire all of the relevant spell effects prior to first visiting the Arcane University. Spell effects can be acquired through several different means, including character build, Heaven Stones, purchasing spells, and sometimes even using scrolls to replace custom spells we only need to use once.
Rumors
Full article: Rumors
There are a few miscellaneous quests in the game that are intended to be initiated by asking random NPCs about Rumors. Starting these quests using this method is incredibly RNG heavy since they are unlikely to bring up the right topics to start quests. Ideally, sequence breaks or other workarounds to start these quests without needing to ask for Rumors will save time and eliminate tedium from the route.
Combat
Full article: Combat
Throughout the run, there are several instances of combat either due to a quest requiring it, or inadvertently during exploration of the map and various dungeons. The ideal way of handling combat would be to avoid it whenever possible, and to have a quick and simple setup for killing unavoidable enemies from a distance. The current strategy is to use a combination of Perma Enchanted 80% Chameleon with a toggleable 20% Chameleon ring to avoid the majority of all combat situations, along with the use of a glitched stack of Apotheosis staves to deal massive damage to enemies without needing to worry about running out of ammo.
Cutscenes
Full article: Cutscenes
There are several cutscenes throughout the run, most notably during the beginning and end of each Daedric Shrine quest. Ideally we want to find ways to skip each cutscene via sequence breaks or other glitches, which means we need to research exactly how cutscenes are programmed in order to find ways to break them.
It has recently been discovered that the different languages for the game have fairly significant differences in cutscene time. Depending on the language, some cutscenes are faster, but one single language is not always faster in every case. Because of this, we will need to compile a list of all the cutscenes that occur throughout the run and time how long they take in each language (English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian). This is going to require a lot of changes to the speedrun guide when implemented, so currently it is being pushed back to V5.
RNG
Full article: RNG
Oblivion has tons of randomness, but there are very specific instances of RNG which theoretically can be avoided. Mitigating RNG as much as possible significantly improves the flow of the route.