Practicing for races?

How do most people go about doing this? Simply creating a new character and going as far as you can in an hour or two? I realize there is out of game preparation as far as build/gear/gem setup are concerned, but I'm more interested at the moment in actual in-game practice as I just started doing races. I find I have the most trouble with knowing when to skip over stuff vs when to farm a bit.

Just did the 1 hr endless ledge and was having no real problems aside from being way behind (I've only done 3 or 4 races so far and lvl 10-15 seems to be my average). But I decided to try and skip ahead to get some higher lvl mobs for more xp. Was on Sarn map and after skipping mobs for ~20 sec I ended up in a bottleneck, surrounded and promptly squished. PEBKAC I know, just curious how people get more of a feel for that or is it simply a matter of running lots of races?

Also, is there any way to practice things like descent or endless ledge outside of a race? Actually playing one without it counting for anything I mean. Because I think getting an actual feel for it before jumping in would be a boon to newer racers such as myself. Though maybe that would ruin the experience in some way I'm not seeing, perhaps a more experienced person could shed some light on?

Anyways, thanks in advance for any insight/bumps(flames)

TL;DR - How do you go about practicing in game for races and is there any way to actually practice a race setup?

Most of the top racers you see playing in races have accumulated hundreds upon hundreds of race experience in actual races. For us, one to two runs with a very specific goal in mine (how fast can I kill merv with the best gear I can possible assemble, for instance for me that was 22 minutes 35 seconds).

My recommendation is to try to participate in as many races as possible to get a feel for the flow of them, as nothing can accurate simulate the actual thing.

That said Nugiyen has some nice beginner guides, and for people somewhat familiar with racing I have some tips and tricks during a 2 hour sig on my youtube.

I'm working on a descent champs 1 hour commentary I've just been busy with finals.

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azclown wrote:

Also, is there any way to practice things like descent or endless ledge outside of a race? Actually playing one without it counting for anything I mean. Because I think getting an actual feel for it before jumping in would be a boon to newer racers such as myself.

For "old" race types such as Descent Endless Ledge perhaps. For "new" races types such as Descent Champions, the fact that you cannot practise them is actually a welcome "feature". This makes the experience much better the first times you play that race and it extends the time period where the race is actually new. If it was possible to practise a new race type like Descent Champions all the time, you would see the top racers practise it constantly for the first 24 hours it was available.


On a more general note, when it comes to practising races: Find a top player who streams races, for example, anyone on the signature top3 page (who streams). Find one who plays your preferred class if possible, go to his/her Twitch channel and find an old VoD from a race. A signature race would be a good choice. Watch it, then try to do the same the next time you race. And yes, at this point, the more practice, the better you get. And as Morse pointed out, the very best players have played a lot of races!


When i comes to Endless Ledge, there will always be a few players way ahead because there is so much rng involved in that race.

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How do you go about practicing in game for races and is there any way to actually practice a race setup?

Don't practise.

All you need to know is how to level up correctly and skip useless content meaning +4 levels (at some point + 5 levels) is the optimal experience and damage gain.
You will also realize how stupid Quicksilver flasks are. Find a second one early on or even a third one and you will see how much time you gain.
1 Reason I prefered Phase Run.(make it a white level 1 initial drop race gem and kick QS flasks!)

Skip the Coast or get level 2 if you didn't find a 2h weapon on melees(unless dualwield)
Skip Flats->This is a thing harder to pull off in Turbo here comes the loss of time in turbo races.
Acquire level 3 in passages.
Acquire level 6 in ledge
Acquire level 7 in lower prison
Acquire level 8 in upper prison
Acquire level 9 in Prisoners gate
Acquire level 11 in coves.
After that kill only mobs in your way.

Then you get level 13 in Southern Forest.
Acquire level 15 in River Crossings + Dw(if enough Ms also Western)
Rush Sins level up in Sins.

60 min races end in Sins(champpacks)
90 min races got 2 options: 1.Progress which isn't recommended if you had bad drops you end up level 25-26 at best.
2.Sins level 1 to level 22-23(there are 2-3 bigger Champrooms in sins level 1) and then go to the Crypt level 2. It also got a high density and the spidertrap+champs at geofri are a lot of experience but be aware to have got instants or res potions if you maximize damage. 1 Desync through doors or stun and you are pretty much dead.

2h means progressing, do Sarn till level 25-26 then exp yourself to level 27 and do docks.

On slightly modded races you will be slowed down because areas get harder, so you will do more Sarn runs on Turbo races and most likely don't do Docks on GMP races as melee(well given the fact we never had a 2-3h GMP race)


The Race strategy is mainly get as much DMG possible, Find MS boots(luck), Find QS flasks(luck and is quiet stupid) and find good weapons and find exits fasts aka don't get the most useless garbage can(big chest) maps in for example 12min, 90min or 2h races.

Flaskswise you got 1-2 HP(don't worry if you don't oneshot or stun mobs with max damage you die anyway), 2-3 QS(well luck based) and 1-2 mana.


The biggest issue will be weapons.
A magic/rare 2h weapon with much damage saves a lot of time till upper prison and even rares might surpass average level 8-9 weapons.
After that you really require a 8-9 upgrade. If you use leap slam and found a somehow ok weapon the next upgrade can be delayed.
But at this point it's really much luck based. If you find Limbsplit/Shiversting or a similar rare you won't need a level 17-18 upgrade(those are mainly speed upgrades but the 2handend sword)
The next upgrade you might need is the level 22-23 upgrade and that's pretty much the weapon you will keep till the end on current durations.
Possibly a level 27-28 upgrade till the ned.



Here is a list of uniques making major differences in common racemodes:

Araku Tikki-->Shorttimed but allows you to go all out damage much safer
Daressos Salute-->Well it's a map only unique but they could be chances.
Ignomon-->Long term the wish of every character having acess to elemental damage nodes.
Karui Ward-->Long term Not such a good amulet but it got MS and that matters too
Magnate-->Pretty much allows you to take some Life nodes.
Dream Fragments-->Short timed only merv
Le Heup-->Long term(there barely are longer races)
Bereks Two Stone rings will affect racing after the leagues ended.
Brisk Wrap-->Around 2h due high Evasion and desireable mods.
Fox Shade-->Short Term but really efficient in 2-3h races
Tabula Rasa-->Long term no more linking issues.
Wake of Destruction-->Long term
Wanderlust->Till level 30 areas when the next MS tier can roll so long term
Ondars Claps-->Long term if you got access to LGOH
Ezomyte Peak-->Long term
Goldrim-->Long term
Crest of Pendarus->The best shield for non dualwield casters

Limb Split-->Long term imagine it did 100 damage more on 20% in CB, when it allowed you to progress till end of cruel act2 without problem. This is pretty much one of the most affecting drops.
Wideswing-->Long Term speed and damage are enough to oneshot in act3.
Hrimnor's Hymn-->Same as Wideswing
Geofri's Baptism-->Long but it only affects longer races
Aurumvorax-->The resists are perfect for to skip elemental damage areas.
Redbeak-->Short Term
Shiverstring-->Short term that weapon affects racing as much as a good rare of the same level but act2 will become really easy.
Lifesprig--->Well Silverbranch gets fixed the wrong way and now we got this one?

Thanks for the replies, some really great and helpful info. Much appreciated. Watched the 2 hr race Mors did with commentary and learned quite a lot. Most were things I don't know if I ever would've even thought of. Gonna bookmark that and rewatch at some point.Haven't looked up the other guide(s) you referenced but I will at some point.

And ty for that detailed breakdown Hilbert, I'll have to try doing some runs myself and see how closely I can follow that. Only thing I'd really been doing to practice was making a new toon on nemesis and seeing how far I could get in an hour, which wasn't very far at all lol, maybe to Merveil. This should help give me an idea of when to push more or faster.

Another general question, are 2h weapon builds typically superior for races? I've done a 2h ST Scion once and it did ok as far as my skill would allow it at least. But it seemed to have a pretty high insta-gib factor unless I tried hit and run which either was slow going or I ended up with a million mobs behind me and went splat the second I got hung up on something or desynced.

Thanks again.

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azclown wrote:

And ty for that detailed breakdown Hilbert, I'll have to try doing some runs myself and see how closely I can follow that.

You did not read his post thoroughly enough:

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Hilbert wrote:

Don't practise.

Practise! (Of course)

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azclown wrote:

Another general question, are 2h weapon builds typically superior for races? I've done a 2h ST Scion once and it did ok as far as my skill would allow it at least. But it seemed to have a pretty high insta-gib factor unless I tried hit and run which either was slow going or I ended up with a million mobs behind me and went splat the second I got hung up on something or desynced.

Yes! As cwu puts it in Morse' video: Whatever makes you oneshot white monsters is usually the best choice. And that basically means a 2h. In beta, dual wield cleave was extremely good. I have not really tried it since the nerf, but I believe it is still "ok" in the beginning for a duelist until you get a good 2h and/or leap slam.

If you wanna practise do it on HC. Nemesismods don't exist yet on regular races but invisible Bossmods on Descent Champions and Endless ledge.

Karui Ward-->Long term Not such a good amulet but it got MS and that matters too

Practice runs help work out the initial issues with your race strat- you end up with a better idea of when you can rush, what to skip, when you need to upgrade each gear slot, how many town visits you need etc.

Hilberts list of best race items is mostly solid, though shiversting tends not to get replaced (125-140 damage with strong chill and a 1.35 base is fine for any competitive event that doesnt go past docks, which for this season is all of them). Last resort is also strong through all of act 1 if your build can actually use it.

Prior to release yes but but now have got stronger 2h mods and a level 23 a mod on a level 23 weapon will certainly beat shiverstring.

I DC I even rolled a 139 max dmg woodsplitter