The speedrunning marathon Awesome Games Done Quick has no shortage of awesome speedruns, but this Diablo 3 run is the best one I've seen this week. Unlike most other runs at the event, which are done solo or as competitive two-player races, the Diablo 3 speedrun was a joint effort by three players working in tandem to whip Diablo's (and Malthael's) ass as quickly as possible. But runners meatr0o, Heckson, and Whisperra did a lot more than that: They beat two world records at the same time.
The run, which clocks in at a total time of 1:19:15, not only beat the previous world record for the Diablo 3 three-player category but also topped the four-player category—and it did it with minutes to spare, too. That's impressive since having a fourth helping hand makes the game even easier. But meatr0o, Heckson, and Whisperra pull it off with some incredible coordination and a few extremely lucky loot drops.
You can watch the run embedded above, but the gist is that meatr0o, Heckson, and Whisperra are looking to rush through Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls five acts as quickly as possible. It's an adventure that would take average players a dozen hours or so, but the trio rip through each act using some clever tricks.
As they explain before the run begins, teamwork is key. But it's hard to overstate how amazing their level of coordination is. So much time in Diablo 3 is spent pouring over item stats or making trips back to a hub to offload items, but the trio minimizes this time by ensuring someone is always moving toward the next objective. By making liberal use of a feature where teammates can teleport to one another, meatr0o, Heckson, and Whisperra pull off a trick called leapfrogging, where they chain teleports together to quickly cover a great distance in a short amount of time.
Throughout the run, their commentary is broken up by one of them yelling things like "Break!" which signals everyone to stop what they're doing and smash pots because it gives them a movement speed boost. Or they'll make good use of the extra bodies to have one player complete a quest while another is already waiting next to the quest giver to turn it in.
This is a speedrun that features everything that makes the sport so compelling.
But Diablo 3 is also a game with a lot of randomness. Characters are really only as good as their equipment, so getting good loot drops is necessary to take on tougher enemies. Fortunately, lady luck was on their side. Throughout the run, the trio is looking to collect Balance, an extremely rare Legendary Daibo weapon that gives them the damage they'll need to rip through monsters quickly. But because items scale with player level, a Diabo found in the first act wouldn't be nearly as strong as one found later in the run, so the team ideally needs to find several over the course. Early on, they get two in quick succession, with a third coming in Act 2. And, though I lost count, they manage to find even more later.
This is a speedrun that features everything that makes the sport so compelling: Coordination, skill, and a dash of ridiculous luck that propels them past the finish line in record time. If you're watching Games Done Quick and haven't checked this run out, I highly recommend it.
We're keeping our eyes peeled for other great speedruns from Games Done Quick, which is livestreaming 24 hours a day throughout this week. You can tune in on their Twitch channel, and if you see a speedrun you think we should know about, let us know in the comments.
