# Talk:Speed ascension
Could someone with moderate experience with speed runs please post some "typical" times of some milestones, in order to set myself goals? I am thinking of something like

found mines by ... turns
buying/stealing/price-id in mine town by ... turns
stack of holy water by ... turns
crowned / intrinsics
luckstone by ... turns
found quest by ... turns
completed castle by 12k turns
start quest by ... turns
complete quest by ... turns
pre-gehennom prepratations ...
wake up wizard by 20k turns
ascend by ...
-Tjr 01:01, 13 July 2009 (UTC)
After some moderate experience, a few rough targets:

Got digging tool by turn 500.
Do price ID and have a plan for Medusa's titan.
Then dig down straight, collecting/stealing as many scrolls and eggs/tripe as possible.
Got wand of wishing by turn 1500.
Reverse genocide unicorns for Luck. Wish for polymorph control, a wand of polymorph, and bazillions of magic markers to write charging with. Write spellbooks of detect monsters, magic mapping, sleep, remove curse, confuse monster.
Dig / phase through Gehennom, mapping each level, recharging power as needed. Get the amulet of life saving, the Candelabrum, Rodney's book, and the vibrating square.
Level teleport to the quest. Teleport control is gained by reverse genociding wraith or by turning into a tengu.
Ascend by turn 6000.
Fastest possible
Does anyone know, if you assume absolutely ideal conditions (shortest dungeon possible, poly'd into an air elemental except to read the Book, no monsters in the way, using levelporting/teleporting where possible, etc) what the fastest possible ascension would be?  It seems that it shouldn't be random - if you let a monster carry the Amulet for you, the mysterious force shouldn't be a problem, and so you could always teleport between staircases.  Of course you have to add a turn then to kill the monster carrying the Amulet, but that's probably still faster than it could be otherwise (given that levels in the Dungeon proper can't have adjacent staircases, teleportation will always save you at least a turn, even in constructed, highly improbable "ideal" circumstances) -Ion frigate 04:01, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

The only strict minimum is 2000 turns, as before that you cannot have enough alignment to do the quest and thus the invocation. It's perfectly possible to map out every level and obtain the candellabrum, 7 candles, and the book of the dead in this time (I believe one of Maud's near-2000 turn ascension details this in RGRN). So you need enough time to do the quest, a few turns to get the amulet using Asmodeus or another demon, then at least two movements per level to go up the stairs. Then the elemental planes and all. -- Qazmlpok 12:17, 1 June 2011 (UTC)
Ais523 is preparing a TAS speedrun going for the fastest theoretically possible turn count, of course savescumming the random number generator. I believe he said something like 2017 turns. A few highlights:
Polymorphing into a (hasted) air elemental wearing the Eye of the Overworld lets your take several actions per turn, including a jump on the last.
Quaffing cursed gain level you "happen to find" lets you traverse the dungeon at one level per action.
The (conflicted) High Priest of Moloch can be killed by a tame shapeshifter/polytrapped air elemental turned cockatrice on the same turn you levelport into the Sanctum.
The Elemental Planes each get their own almost comical strategy, e.g. stepping onto lava in the plane of fire will lifesave you next to the portal, and the Astral Planes uses a neat egg trick.
Please ask Ais523 himself if you want to know more details, I'm just a bystander. I'm positive this TAS and its writeup will be awesome. --Tjr 17:06, 1 June 2011 (UTC)
I think it's very unlikely that faster than 2016 (with two spare actions on turn 2016) is found, unless someone finds a new glitch. That's how long it takes to do the ascension run via the fastest known strategies at the moment, assuming perfect luck. (It does take an entire turn for each of the Planes, other than Fire which can be done in the same turn as Air, because the glitches involved require turn boundaries to work; most other levels are done in one action or less, with the exception of the Quest and Invocation, which are slightly slower.) Ais523 17:10, 1 June 2011 (UTC)
Obtaining resources
Some ways to get scrolls:

Rob shops on your way down. Requires a lot of real-life luck. Monster detection or better telepathy can help locate shopkeepers, but you still waste a lot of time walking over. With unskilled monster detection, shopkeepers, priests, and nurses can be distinguished by their movement pattern. You also want a way to take your pick-axe along. Killing the shopkeeper can hose your Luck and wishes.
Chests and vampires in the Valley of the Dead and Vlad's level. This is slow - around 1000 turns to clear the Valley for me; Maud is faster. It helps to have a lamp, and to drum/horn the zombies away, since a master mind flayer doesn't kill them quickly and other polyforms can't prevent level drain with a cloak.
Go to mine town. Saves a wish for candles, but doesn't yield spectacularily much. Dig through dark levels, since you have a light source on your way up. Autopickup cloaks, projectiles, glass gems, and bows to pay with.
The priest of Moloch has books to polypile. Though still risky, the best way to kill him seems to be: Clear distractions, turn into a silver dragon for reflection, line up for double-bounces and cast sleep, and fight on the prepared permanent Elbereth. Telepathy and warning help in case he resists the sleep spell and summons ants. He won't move once you are battling in melee range. (Drop your flammables in advance.) (To get sleep, you dilute a potion in the castle moat, wish for a marker, play with unicorns in a Castle chamber, and write it on a book you find in the Valley.)

|.....|.
|.@E.D|-
|.._..E.
|..E..|.
|.....|-

Morphing into an arch-lich doesn't cut it because you either will destroy your rings and wands or have no way to feel like a new arch-lich when wounded.--Tjr 16:35, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

broken links
Many of the links in this page are broken, notably links to nethack-EU dumplogs. --Testbutt (talk) 01:27, 24 December 2020 (UTC)