Trying another run with a goal to complete SoA in 90 game days and EDE in 100 game days using Vagrant protagonist. Typical games for me are closer to 140 days or longer, so no idea how this will work. Minimizing resting and travel time and being clever around quest timing will be key. I won't use wish for rest to reset spells/abilities outside of combat and will rest following fights should that spell be used. Core difficulty using a 6.2beta in EE2.3 with Tower of Deception and The Four mod.

Starting with a custom swashbuckler and after a few changes at the beginning, the party will be:

Vagrant PC - permanent improved haste late game, GM, great summons, really tanky in Ch6
2x Riskbreakers - Self explanatory, self-improved haste will help with spell management
R(7)->C - best healer, great tank
Sorceror (Neera) - access to RVE (only way to get cast time of -5 for insta RRR), objectively stronger than Imoen because of personal robe
Avenger (Jaheira) - crazy fighting power mid-game (golem slayer or 10 APR with critical strike) with needed buffs (resist cold, giant strength), tanking ability, great summons, and healing touch

I always enjoy a necro PC run, but the time machine quests take too long (15 days min) and come too late. I'm not sure whether the final Vagrant quest will be pursued since it requires quite a bit of travel.

Here we go:

Join Jaheira, free Minsc, and then fight through the dungeon. Upon entering Athkatla, do the following with the goal of not resting until Cernd is joined:
circus, docks (use clan hunter, minotaur, dirth, prebek), govt (rescue viconia, jan), gate, temple (get fallen paladins and temple quests), bridge (skinner but not basement, saerk mansion, fallen paladin bandit fight), promenade (pay for ore), slums (talk to duerger, pay gaelan 15k), bridge (neb), govt (neb head, sarles), temple (turn in statue quest, start bridge, steal amulet - can't buy QS +3/belt due to odd sleep schedule), docks (TG quests sans Maevar fight (too weak). Best moment so far is to use staff+2 carried by mage to kill clay golem, get rewards from Aran, mook - many reloads since vampire flees and doesn't die, use wand, start ployer), slums (ployer - rush mages as they teleport in), want to go to DeArnise keep but run into Suna, so instead go to Umar Hills (mimic, too weak to fight umber hulks). trademeet (pickpocket, thank swashbuclker for services and join cernd, rest #1), travel to druid grove (8h4) (PC XP: 336k, gold: 23k, game time: 3d 15hr, total travel time: 1d 12h)

clear druid grove, rakasha (use clan hunter), and faldorn (many saves due to acid shield buff), rest #2, nilthiri (emotion), travel to trademeet, buy AoP from dao, turn in quests, jenia (buy restoration scroll), join Rasaad, travel to gate and then amphitheater - no mercy. Travel to monk temple - ambush, trials, final fight (run up stairs and lure up enemeies, cheesy but that's ok). Here PCXP is only 456 and want 500k for neera, so stop by city (12) to fight maevar (keep guild) and some vampires. Get neera - (cats, rescue kirn) and go back to the city. Party is extremely low, so we buy greater restoration at temple, run into more vampires before defeating the fallen paladins, turn in cup (rep 17) r/c hits lvl 10, graveyard upper tombs and wellyn, rest #3 (PC XP: 549k, gold: 53k, game time: 9d 5h, total travel time: 5d 12h)

suna seni, renfold, beastmaster, lower crypt spiders (use clan hunter, save Pai'na for now), bottom crypt (vampire bride quite difficult), jaheira needs 15k xp for level 12, so join jan (neera waits) and disarm all traps/locks in crypt and harper hold, korgan book quest, healing spells depleted and Jaheira will not get rest benefit, so buy greater restoration at temple, watch xzar get assassinated, rest #4, jaheira memorizes her spells and then leaves (PC XP: 630k, gold: 59k, game time: 9d 13h, total travel time: 5d 12h)

temple sewers, kill vampire mist spawn (no XP) by sea troll, join keldorn (he starts with 940k XP, ~250k more than vagrant!!), talk to gaal, bottom sewer lair (1 undead spawn, 1 yaun ti - keldorn dispel magic works against lvl 13 mage/malison/emotion), use summons (nymph->wild dog) to tank some gauth spells but they still do a lot of damage, yaunti-group in mekrath's tower (keldorn dispel magic/emotion). imp (keldorn dispel magic/beating), recover hexxat, rest #5, jaheira rejoins (PC XP: 718k, gold: 60k, game time: 10d 5h, total travel time: 5d 12h)

harper hold ambush, beholder lair (but don't complete rod), thief ambush in promenade, vampire 3, clear slum sewer to vampire mist, turn in mekrath gem (no fight), open planar prison portal, guild contact (use clan hunter, 1 bride), complete rod and destroy unseeing eye (rep 18), kill gaal, start cleric quest 1, rest #6 (PC XP: 855k, gold: 78k, game time: 10d 21h, total travel time: 5d 12h)

mencar (doom/malison/emotion), tod (use 1x IH and haste), buy restoration healing, slum sewer wraiths (many fighters lvl drained), slavers (rush captain with all fighters, emotion, cast true sight from scroll, beat mage to death and wait out confusion, kill golem via clan hunter), grab jan for trap disarming, rescue girl and return to hendak (rep 20), dorn quest 1 (rep 19), rest #7 (PC XP: 1005k, gold: 88k, game time: 11d 13h, total travel time: 5d 12h)

pirates (book of infinite spells, worn out boots), vampire 4, forge boots of speed (50k), bodhi's lair (R/C with amulet clears lesser vampires, 1x RB, PC, RC, and clan hunter to take out mage and brides, PC takes out lassal while RC, RB, CH take out brides - Jaheira keeps up PFLD and CC), royal crypt (neera tanks king, RC tanks queen with excellent AC), return to aran, lockpick crypts with jan, buy arundel's staff (20k, should have bought with rep 20), rest #8 (PC XP: 1107k, gold: 30k, game time: 12d 1h, total travel time: 5d 12h)

planar prison - quite cheesy admittedly. first group: buff well, pixie dust before entering, kill EBH as fast as possible. Yuan-ti mage group - 3x minotaur, 1x mage, 1x umber hulk, 1x elite yaunti. Off-screen emotion on mage, melee. Warden: Buff well (wonderous recall = lots of CC), remove spell turning with acid shield, 1x RRR, breach, dead warden. Spawn last yaun-ti mage, emotion. Accept playhouse. Forge morningstar +3 (15k), pai-na (breach then death spell), buy restoation healing and 4x scrolls of restoration, travel to de'arnise keep, clear easy trolls, nalia unlocks doors/traps while neera waits, rest #9 (PC XP: 1213k, gold: 26k, game time: 12d 23h, total travel time: 5d 20h)

nalia's keep (yaunti mage 2nd floor - emotion, then beat trolls, greater yaun-ti - acid shield to remove spell turning then breach, glacias - breach, 2x spiders, recover 3rd flail head and forge FoA, torgal - improved haste fighters, neera tanks gem golem, finish golem room with residual buffs, summon animals for viper), weird bug with nalia where she has to be in the party to advance the quest, fortunately neera stays put and is manually given party XP via console upon rejoining), accept keep, travel to druid grove, kill last group of trolls, buff well (2x IH, haste, free action) and recover belm, rest # 10 in grove, chaos quest started (PC XP: 1324k, gold: 41k, game time: 14d 5h, total travel time: 6d 12h)

travel to trademeet, harber ambush 1, chaos (malison, 7x call lightning), founder (both RB use IH, still lots of damage taken, no rynn), turn in necklace to family, buy restoration (fatigue on neera), travel to shadow temple, jailer and undead spawn (clan hunter kills one lich, PFME/IH RB kills second lich), thaxy (use last 2xIH, buff well, normal weapons, thaxy heals 3x, azuredge, blade of roses) (PC XP: 1416k, gold: 54k, game time: 15d 10h, total travel time: 7d 4h)

shadelord (send three at patrick, two at skeleton lords, neera debuffs lord, punch through shadelord without CC triggering, requires not pausing while chunking shade lord so a bit of an exploit honestly), return to umar hills (get shield, leather armor, potion batch 1, cabin, talk to squirrel), return to city, talk to squirrel, buff in city (wizard warning) and fight assassins, buy restoration and mauler's arm, join haer dalis and ID all items, empty bags (248k sold) and forge phosphorous, cleric talk 2, thieves return 2 (net <1k), bard 1, recover ashideena (no haste, melee), gaius (2x IH, burn down 1 priest and then gaius, other priest and then fighters) and then immediately with buffs still running rush the rakasha (fireball then thrown axes on kobolds followed by melee rush on rakasha which interrupts spells), purchase girdle from talos (thought store would be closed!), lilarcor (summon and buff clan hunter, its enough), forge shadow dragon scale (5k, 24hr rest #12) (PC XP: 1554k, gold: 222k, game time: 17d 3h, total travel time: 8d 0h)

Forge cloak of protection +2 (30k), Dermin says hello, umar hills/shadow temple/umar hills (24hr travel) amulet quest, windspear hills outside (ignore hospitality to skip a rest, murder dryads after returning acorns), wraiths (IH/potion of freedom/scroll of chaotic commands on pc with azuredge/phosphorous and some positioning), ruhk (cheesy but neera runs in circles undir SI:A and ProFire and sunfires down kobolds as they spawn, after AI wears off melee), golem 1 (fight at door, 1x IH, need more +3 weapons), vampires (PC with azuredge/phosphorous fights at door), spiders, golem 2 (fight at door, 1x IH), vampires (PC with azuredge/phosphorous), werewolves, tazok, conster (use 1x IH, rush conster in first round, then kill lords), return daughter, clear corridor to samia, kill tomb guardians (2x IH, CH, swanmay, and haste), tomb mist is still lurking. Neera levels to 14 and takes limited wish for level 7 spell. Rest #13 (PC XP: 1740k, gold: 202k, game time: 19d 16h, total travel time: 9d 4h)

samia and co (lure one by one into back room, skeletons don't immediately spawn for some reason, kill kaol in one round, tank warlords in doorway with RC under stoneskin and AC -17 while RB smacks them with IH/belm/phosphrous, sadly no good loot), keep 1, cleric advice 3, bard 2, forge headdress (100k), screaming statue (round 1 - PC with azuredge/phosphorous alone, then buff well (CC from wondrous recall, pro evil, imp haste, etc.) for rounds 2 and 3. Use 2x Limited Wish to keep up PFLD during round 3) , forge boots of speed (50k), borinal (buff inside, clan hunter, last skeletons), forge water's edge +4, grotesque, jan's quest, leave neera in the city, paladin orc fight and get valygar after killing some rangers (rep 19, 32 hr), open sphere and rejoin neera, return to umar hills, paladin baron, ranger orc fight, stop by keep and dermin appears (28 hr), rest 14 and jaheira leaves (PC XP: 1870k, gold: 12k, game time: 23d 22h, total travel time: 12d 16h)

return to athkatla (8 hr), rejoin jaheira but she has lost her class spells!, bard 3, cleric 3/4, paladin girl, thieves return 3 (net ~1k), empty bags (sell 125k), decide to pursue sphere, halflings (1x IH - kill archer while RC occupies priest/psionist, then mage, then priest/psionist), spiders and second halflings with buffs still running, 3x fighters are quite low so use greater restoration, golems are 2x coin, 2x gem, bone (2x IH, 4x animate dead, clan hunter), lavok (use 6x RRR, 3x animate dead, 1x IH, both RB survive 3x ADHW!!), clear control room, demon plane (1x IH and haste on named demon), heal using 2x limited wish, tolgerias (last 2x IH and buffs including SI:N, planetar then tolgerias while RC and jaheira try to interrupt the other mage), RBs hit level 15, ice room, fire room, rest 15 (PC XP: 2011k, gold: 142k, game time: 24d 20h, total travel time: 13d)

golem room (positioning so only fighting 1-2 golems at a time, clan hunter dies after second group), talk to lavok, empty bags (sell 58k), forge 2x Cloak+2, 5x Ring +2, elemental lich, shade lich, edwin's lich. I can join Hexxat but not Dorn if I have Viconia in party (drops rep to 17), but it is the middle of the day, so we depart for spellhold after 3x Limited Wish castings, effectively rest 16 (PC XP: 2127k, gold: 8k, game time: 25d 10h, total travel time: 13d)

Let's take a look at the party:
PC: 2127k XP, Axe 5*/Club **/Flail */2-weapon **, Frostreaver +3/Azuredge+3/Club +3 MPV:Amber Golem
Riskbreaker 1: 2127k XP, Warhammer 5*/Longsword */Flail */2-weapon **, Ashideena +2/Borok's Fist +2/Blade of Roses +3, MPV: Gaal
Riskbreaker 2: 2127k XP, Flail 5*/Longsword **/2-weapon **, Phosphorous/Waters Edge +4, MPV: Thaxy
Ranger(7)->Cleric: 2038k XP, Flail of Ages +3/shield, MPV: Gem Golem
Jaheira: 2072k XP, Staff of Arundel +3, MPV: Chaos
Neera: 2073k XP, Martial Staff +3 MPV: Minotaur

brynnlaw (galvena - use last 3x RRR scrolls on vadek, 2x IH, only 3 guards, perth - rush in round 2, 1x coin golem, clear wraiths, talk to pirate captain, wait for irenicus), spellhold 1 - riddles, yaun-ti, spiders, golems (greater bone, 2x coin, 2x gem), yaun-ti by exit, spellhold 2 - book, wraith, lich (wait out protections, send in fighter under PFME), dace, cat of 9 lives/librarian (tank cat with RC who has AC -18, not sure she was even hit once, swanmay clanhunter and skeleton warriors were good summons, same fighter under PFME kills librarian after PFMWs are up), master vampire (2x IH, limited wish NPP, use 1 restoration scroll on RB), not enough healing or hastes to try for amber golems so we rest (rest 17)

amber golems (1x RB dies, raised with scroll, so much damage), spellhold 3 - coin golems and mithril via clan hunter, finish maze, limited wish golem fight, jaheira hits level 14 at 2500794 XP, rest 18

irenicus fight (prebuffs - regeneration and death ward on top of normal buffs, 6x hasted golems hit like a truck), noble trolls outside the asylum, have to wait for night time, so rest 19

pirate, sahaugin city (prince - buff well, use 3x IH, lots of damage on fighters from vipers, assassinate king after getting quest XP via spell trigger 3x FA), underdark (illithid, elementals, drow ambush 1 - run in buffed under 3x free action and 3x potion of freedom, spell trigger 3x sunfire, clean up, demon - after his spell trigger, spellstrike from scroll and breach, ambush 2 - PC tanks spiders alone while rest of party takes care of drow, beholder in west tunnels, rest 20

demon knights - clan hunter, swanmay, anaconda, salamander prince go south, party under limited wish: shield among other things, recoup belt (2nd try) on probably lucky CCs, kuo-tuo - these guys suck, kill prince but leave one group for later, drow city - easy tavern fight (skip mages for now), ambush (2x IH), rescue phaere, qilue's house, illithid lair to brain, rest 21

illithid brain (1x coin golem, 2x purge, rep 20), shopping (spear +4, staff +3, freedom scroll, yellow potions), imprisoned mage (take all scrolls, rep 18), beholder lair (2x IH, restoration on first elder orb), maze (holy smite, risk decrement, creeping doom against shadow army), rest 22

dracolich (no HLAs so easy version, RC raises dead twice during fight), helmet, soulafein, deirex, house jalaet, last kuo-tua group, sell some items and turn in reagent, switch eggs, neera hits lvl 18 and takes RVE, rest 23

efreeti (no lightning bolt or cone of cold and MAA doesn't do enough damage, so wait out PFMW then melee, use both greater restorations and 1x risk decrement), drow city, return dragon eggs, assassinate adalon (-3 casting speed with RVE, foreknowledge, AoP, followed by alacrity, breach, lower resistance trigger, flame arrows), fight to surface but leave stash of unidentified adamantine weapons/armor, small teeth pass, hidden forest (PC takes out wraith army, uses cat figurine and contact with nature), keep 3, umar (2x IH, need more piercing damage), umar hills (potion 2, start shimmering light!!), firkraag(3x greater silence), windmaster (swanmay, greater swanmay, acid shield, RVE regen, haste), forest of tethir areas, rest 24

dermin should spawn but he doesn't (likely due to forest of tethir area?) so use console to get him to appear, kruin (army of summons, kill elemental golems as fast as possible, 1x gem golem only, 1x RB dies to CC ADHW), north forest spawn points, city (thieves return 4, bard 4, complete paladin, apprenti 1), illithid room 1 (RVE - agility, alacrity, etc.), rest 25

alhoon (under alacrity, 3x RRR, remove magic) and GEG (use clan hunter, skeleton warriors, 4x gem, 1x coin), jaheira receives harper pin, kangaxx (PC alone wielding phosphorous/water's edge), city mage 1, pitre (buff well, summons near exterminator and valeria, attack rune assassin, then pitre, debuffed mage, planetar, etc.), teshal (RVE regen, RB and Jaheira take down grandlords), forge cloak +2, harper's ward, golden cat figurine, and crom fayer, rest 26

keep 3, umar hill (shimmering light 2), neera refuge (headband, tankard), watcher keep level 1 (RVE regen for golem room and spider queen, only 1x ghost spider), watcher keep level 2 (melee, 3x coin/3x gem on elemental), rest 27

chromatic demon (RVE regen, melee down), green wyrm (4x time stop to debuff, trick from Nicoper's journal), watcher keep level 3 (milk demons, kill tiefling mage in first round, last two improved hastes for wraith battle, win scimitar and wish scroll then kill cambion), illithid, yaun-ti, spiders, deck (donjon, ring +2, hp+10 on jaheira), buy restoration to cure level drain since RC is out,rest 28

watcher's keep level 3 golems (use 5x RVE (3x regen, 1x grandlord, 1x other) and clan hunter, total of 7x coin, 7x gem). City (bard 5, start apprenti 2, thieves return 5 (<500), vanya 1, rescue neera's friend, empty bags including scrolls and potions (sell 572k), forge quarter staff +3, golem slayer, truth, ring of djinni, ring of greater djinni, green wyrm plate (415k), cowled wizard 3 and restore some spells using limited wish, guarded compound (first floor - cleric buffs, RC is a beast, second floor - prebuff RVE regen chainbreaker etc, then use last 3x IH, its enough), rest 29

graveyard (LW: NPP), bodhi's lair (1st floor - betray paladins, PC clears level, use 1x IH, regen, 1x hardiness, CWN, and IH on ring of gaxx, 2nd floor - buff well, rve regen, use 1x greater restoration), rune assassins (RVE regen, dragon's breath, melee), shimmer light 3, forge necklace +2, greater elemental golem (RVE, buff well, purge magic hits fighters on golem 8 but its enough), mage, gate lich (greater swanmay, 2x swanmay, haste), hexxat 1, travel to umar hills, rest 30

shimmering light 4, druid grove (troll mound - creeping doom, holy smite, melee on vengeance horde, enchanter, retrieve gong), keep 4 and forge flail of ages +4, city (forge red coral armor, illusionist (true seeing from truth, imp haste from gaxx and bracers), return gong and assassinate mercenaries), orcus (all GL down before vampires, only eminent vampires, neera dies to CC:3xFoD in round 4 or 5), doppleganger, free roshan, get grandfather location, start apprenti 3, mage, thieves return 6 (~1.5k), forge wave (rest 31)

twisted rune (RVE regen, RVE mental agility, improved alacrity, melee layene after breach), grandfather (RVE regen, improved alacrity, dragon's breath, neera dies halfway through from PW:K, RB dies from CC:ADHW, so many items…), retrieve pull (prot elec, regen), return lanthorn, swanmay potions, start good bad ugly, retrieve ruby, keep 5, start vanya 2, empty bags (sell 490k), give up green wyrm armor, travel to windspear hills, rest 32

good bad ugly (0 amber, 6 coin, 4 gem, use 2x scroll of maze on auriel), viper queen (this fight needs buffed), apprenti die but make ring of wizardry (finally!!), zallanora (RVE regen, imp alacrity, phac dies in first round, wait for PFMW to wane on zallanora then crunch, ~4 coin golems for no xp), meck eventually comes, bard 7 (barbarians), retrieve and return swanmay jewel, rest 33 (Save time 59d and change)

NOTE: Fastest playthrough option from here seems to be to go to Sulda -> hell -> ToB and skip the last ranger quest, Neera's quest, Roenall encounter (must be done in Ch 6), and rest of Watcher's Keep

Decide to pursue complete clear of SoA and try for Demogorgon...

keep 6, city(bard 8 (rehearsal), hidden refuge, red wizard enclave, hexxat 2, anomen knighting ceremony, edwin reads scroll), hidden refuge, keep 7 (dikes), city(thieves return, forge neera's robe), watcher's keep 4 (supreme leader (RVE regen, limited wish shield as key buffs, take out githyanki then golem makers ~8 golem total, melee down inquisitors, critical strike supreme leader when his defenses lapse), buffs still running saladrex (normal weapons), minotaurs), distribute stats (str/dex to PC, con to RB, wis/int to RC) from machine, watcher's keep 5 (riddle, undead spawn (1x dies from CC:ADHW), blue orb 1-4 (2x die from CC:ADHW), green orb 1-3, red orb 1-2, purple orb 1-2), green orb 4 (last good buffs here), rest 34

purple orb 3 (jaheira/RC shield of archons, neera PFMW scroll/alacrity, PC amulet of power, RBs hide, neera ST: 3x sunfire and then 8x sunfire), red orb 3 (separate ice golems, use crit strike to take them out quickly, 3x coin, 3x gem on elemental), purple orb 4 (PC waits out as many spells as possible then RBs try to kill, 1x RB dies to ADHW), red orb 4 (separate GEG and ultra, fighters retreat for purge from ultra, 4x amber, 6x other), demi-lich (sequencer and trigger with RoF, deathward all, neera foreknowledge/RVE agility, alacrity, 13x RoF and some vampire touch, deathward not dispelled by remove magic, neera refreshes spell protections), rest 35

ancient dragon (RC takes initial silence, fighters kill salamander, neera takes down efreeti, nishruu taken down quite early with djinni still alive. Genie tanks dragon for a long time while party waits out defenses. Saved halfway through. After breaches are used, wish:PFME and a very lucky RVE:remove debilitating conditions. Swanmay queen gets the kill. All level 9 mage spells used.), horde (pacifist), seal, rest 36

golems (4 elemental, 2 Gbone, 13 gem, 6 coin, clan hunter and djinni used), spirit warrior, azamantes (fun fight, lich kept refreshing PFMW, 4x SGL, 4x Gbone), demon lord (RVE regen, swanmay queen, focus down deathlords one by one, burn mortal on dying blow), bard 9 and sell playhouse, mage rune, completely empty bags including unwanted scrolls (total gold 1326k, sell ~400k), forge thor, judgement day, great wyrm armor, ring of protection +3, boots of speed, boots of the ranger lord, supreme shelter, improved dragon helm, golden spider figurine, girdle of lordly might (940k total), pay ribald to send knights of solamnia home, rest 37

demon prince (rd 1- jaheira runs and summons clan hunter, RBs improved haste, PC summons greater swanmay, Neera casts IH on jaheira, RC summons djinni, demon prince chases RC who wisely flees, rest of party kills acolytes (abyssal have way too may PFMW) and then summon an army (swanmays, spider, trolls, etc), focus first summoned acolyte (elemental golem), and then rush demon prince who never cast AI. PC got the killing blow with JD! Only 2 acolytes total summoned), rest 38

demogorgon (everyone drinks babarian essence potion, PC and RBs drink 2, summon army, RVE regen, RVE mental acuity (cast speed -5), …, demogorgon dead!), read scroll upon leaving (bug, 80k group XP) before its destroyed, trademeet (buy staff of striking and blackwood club +2), forest of tethir, use JD to get all fighters stone skin, rest 39

sulda (PC clears rakasha camps solo, TOD part 2 - 6 SGL, Nizi - falls to just warriors, never killed heartwood so easily, greater golem - 5 coin, 1 gem, 1 amber, start ASOS - give nuts to squirrel, off to buy pennyroyal oil), stop by Keep and Roenall attacks, kill him and collect 16k from the keep, visit city, merchant isn't there, transform into slayer and join Viconia (rep 16) but Dorn still won't join, rejoin neera, rest 40

pennyroyal oil vendor still not there, transform into slayer and rejoin Viconia (rep 14), Dorn joins, do his second quest (use console (C:createcreature("sctelwyn") to overcome disappearing NPC bug), pennyroyal vendor present after helmite camp, clear resurrection gorge and empty bag to witch (sell ~198k), rejoin Neera, forge RoP +4, noble staves, royal elemental staff, improved boots of ranger lord (360k), mirrored vipers (summon swanmay, all fighters focus EG with CS, then melee vipers using CS (except PC), so many...), activate mirrors, duel (RVE regen, PC quaffs 2x BE potion, wields axe (MH) and DoE (OH), summons swanmay queen and djinni, PC uses hardiness as needed and tanks while swanmay queen beats on ranger, fighter and ranger both down before queen is unsummoned, PC wields JD and clears riff raff), retrieve ancient water (summon swanmay before activating and kill EG, then shadow down in one round), blazing mirror (RVE regen before activating mirror, RC tanks, neera hastes and PC summons last swanmay, RBs use IH, then melee down golems - only one purge), rest 41

drowned soul (buff well and RVE regen before activating mirror, PC summons greater swanmay and neera tanks EG, party groups up and CS down spiders then soul then golems, jaheira dies to bleeding), master of mirrors (first time completing this fight, i think. PC drinks 3x BE potion (Nicoper's fight guide), after initiating, RBs IH and PC summons swanmay queen to NE, party runs and takes down swanmay. RC (lvl 37 cleric from Demogorgon XP) dispel magic on MoM in center while party dispatches EG. After EG dead, fighters and swanmay charge spiders while Jaheira casts creeping dooms. Eventually spiders down. Party uses normal weapons and greater restoration as needed to down MOM. Same strategy for other MOM - summon swanmay, kill EG, fighters use normal weapons on dispelled mage), take axe of lakesider +5 (17x BE potions in inventory, no wish for rest in 7 castings during fight), irenicus (summon djinni and others, RVE regen, buff as well as possible. PC still under BE potions tanks 2 south golems, focus down golems and use last 2 greater restoration and risk decrements to keep party up, once golems down, neera 3x RRR and breach while party whacks), hell - spells restored! (rest 42)

hell (nothing special, 2 gem, 1 coin golem), ilasara (debuff mage then rest fall pretty easily), party summons all NPCs and takes gear (anomen flail +3 is notable), saradush city (PC solos vampire lair, rest unremarkable), gromnir (fighters take out side group, Neera debuffs mage who PC whacks, party takes out ancestor then gromnir while PC soaks up spells, karun eventually runs out of spells and dies), outside saradush (buy spear +3/flail +3), temple, forge foebane +5, circlet of netheril, boots of speed, fire giant temple (brennen - use djinni, clan hunter, and swanmay queenfight all giants at once, 2 gem/1 coin on elemental), burn hearts (1 RB defends 2 rounds of SL horde while other party members take out remove magiced nyalee, narrow escape to PP), teleport to outside saradush with Rasaad and travel to Neera's ambush site, defeat Rasaad's ambushers but can't travel to the ambush location, Neera casts a dwemer and rest 43

neera encounter (PC wielding JD solos for most part, 1x remove magic used), saradush to sell items to priest (~500k sold), forge dragon lord, flail of defending and wounding, girdle of cloud giant strength, poseidon's wrath, (530k), yaga-shura (run to center of map before attacking him, kill EFG before he returns, focus elite bodyguard then cleric then fighters, neera falls during group 3 to a CC:ADHW), oasis (Neera: cast IA while CC: foreknowledge, PFME, stoneskin, summon djinni, swanmay queen, activate defenses, then implosion followed by CS on tombelthen (down in 2nd round) while Neera debuffs 1st mage. Jaheira goes down to gem golem army halfway through fight), amkethran (lich, rescue peasants), leave jaheira for hexxat and clear her lair (she turns to dust from Korkorron), join rasaad and travel to deepstone clanhold and kill algoroth, dorn's quest won't trigger yet so rejoin Jaheira and travel to Sendai's lair, clear outside, Theny (several reloads, use potion of freedom and 2/4 last IH buffs, prioritize stat draining xbow wielders), spider lair (potion of freedom still running, melee), slavers, first drow group (last IH, Jaheira dies), pocket plane to forge heartwood ring, ring of gaxx, r prot +3, DoTC, runehammer +5 (240k), rest 44

odamaron (deathward, RVE regen, remove magic, critical strike, < 2 rounds), drow ambush 2, drow ambush 3 (buff well, potion of freedom on fighters, jaheira casts storm of vengeance and creeping doom, rest of sendai's lair no issue, sendai (buff after 5th clone in alcove, PC (halbred), Jaheira (impaler), clan hunter (IH), and smilodon take out pet while one RB takes out spiders. Meanwhile, djinni tanks sendai while RB wielding JD, hardiness, and CBS (90% physical resistance) tanks one golem and Neera and RC tank other golem. Eventually Sendai falls), Draconis (RRR breach followed by normal weapons), Abazigal's lair, recover spells, notably remove magic, using limited wish, Abazigal (clear salamanders while debuffing human form, Jaheira performs ritual and flees from scary golems while Neera offscreen remove magics PFMW under improved alacrity. Use cat figurine Free Action to prevent freezing wind slow. Abazigal down before second salamander summoned), dorn quest won't trigger on travel (needs 1-2 more days), so mercenaries (~40) and monks (~similar number), sell gear (~850k), forge ring of prot +4, ring of prot +4, 2x ring of prot +2, volcanic axe, corrosive lance, treefolk's arm +3, and cutthroat +5 (800k), kill balthazar and then complete challenge 5 (no bone blades killed), Jaheira is 30k XP short of lvl 39 so forge Nature's Gift, setup contingencies from scrolls (stoneskin and foreknowledge 2x troll), distribute potions and defensive scrolls, use JD to get fighters stone skin, rest 45, save time 83d 6h

EDE (prot fire (PC) cold (Jaheira) lightning (RC) acid (Neera from scroll) with army (swanmay queen/2x greater/ smilodon/greater djinni/clan hunter (giant strength IH prot elements), fighters drink 4x BE, RC drinks 5x, Jaheira drinks none, supreme and ultras down before first rakasha wave, only 2x amber/1x EG, rakasha wave, first AI then first purge, second ai, third ai as second rakasha wave, second purge, fourth ai, fifth ai, 3rd rakasha wave, 3rd purge, sixth ai, victory! Melissan falls readily as well. Final save time is 83d 17h

I usually spend some 400 game days for all (confess I have a tendency to make trips, then think twice, go back and forth,..)
I will follow with interest your adventures , 90 days is usually what I consider a short time before going to spellhold

Posted some updates through early Ch 3.

Neera is ~20k XP (833k vs 855k for PC) away from the coveted level 6 spells, meaning more improved hastes than I will know what to do with since both riskbreakers just got level 11. Not sure how to get the last 100k XP though so it might be one more day beofore Neera becomes more useful. So far only 5 rests. Big objectives around the corner are Bodhi's lair, Tower of Deception, Lilarcor, Mencar and co, the Pirates, and the Slavers. Once that is done, the plan is to go for Torgal, Thaxy/Shadelord, Planar Prison, and then Conster/Samia. The party is lacking good weapons at the moment - both riskbreakers are using +1 generic weapons.

Surprising challenges around inventory with unidentified items - no one in the group has good lore skill and Neera can only cast 6 ID items/day. Another problem is fatigue from haste. Plan is to forge 2x boot of speed and phosphorous in Ch 3, forsaking Jaheira's gloves for the time being. I've spent a few thousand gold at temples for healing but its a fair trade compared to wasted time resting. PC wants to get Imoen back ASAP!!

@Nicoper - your parties are typically more interesting then my munchkin ones and require more thinking then "get improved haste, beat enemies to pulp"

@bulian: even with munchkin party I delay...

For ID headache (having had runs with just Imoen now what you are feeling), you can buy glasses of ID in borinall house (upstair) and get a second set through limited wish (that can be bought somewhere, maybe the lady at the back of adventurer mart)
This (6 IDs/rest more) may help a little.

For Neera stronger than Imoen, I agree she has a nice robe, but Vecna gives +2 casting speed...so I would say both are balanced (okay Neera can use both robes so she has an edge...)
Did many runs with Imoen solo sorceress, she was allright (all the more with a slightly modifed spell choice)

Speed run aye, sounds interesting. I'm always doing short runs, as in changing my party and starting over at around Suldenessular time. Good luck I imagine it will take some good planning. I feel bad for your characters, they're gonna be pretty fatigued!

Shade lord and Thaxy down in 16 days with only 11 rests! Haven't decided what to do next - return to the city or try for Conster. I'm leaning towards the city.

Only have triggered one harper ambush so far (romance killed immediately); I think it unlikely that Jaheira will get her ward before Ch 4.

Remaining encounters I will do before spellhold - hard nut to crack, gaius, borinall, screaming statue, lilarcor, ghost spider (warhammer), conster, samia.

I may save the planar sphere for ch6 - I won't get the wizardry ring in time for spellhold, and there are a lot of freaking golems in there.

you might get ward, but it is not likely to match your speed goal



With your party, I would say you might do sphere within 5 rests (less than 2 game days if i'm not mistaken):
one before north golem room
one before lavok
one before tolgerias and lonely gem/gem/coin/coin in engine room (enter through fire room and stay close to exit not to trigger other bunches)
one (or two) for rest of engine room
one for plane (for last encounter that is)

If you buy enough oils of resurgence, one rest for engine room is doable (2 RBs, jaheira and R->C can tank and destroy golems quite efficiently, main issue is managing number and duration of IH)

Slightly updated. Neera just hit level 14 - bonus points if you pick the spell I chose. Samia's group, screaming statue, borinall, and the planar sphere are the main objectives left before spellhold, but I want to complete the second ranger stronghold quest and paladin quests so Umar/Firkraag are available immediately at the start of Ch 6.

@ Hideous - yes, its embarrassing how much planning I have done on this. Boots of speed as a first forged item was quite good to mitigate haste fatigue though!

@ Nicoper - 5 rests is too much time. In Ch6, one could complete the sphere without resting. If I do it in Ch 3, I'll try for two rests, which may involve skipping a golem group for the sphere (will they trigger if I come back later?). Golem groups are very rough at the moment, particularly since I think the first piercing weapon I will get is in late Ch 4.

Updated through the start of Ch 6. Drow scattered and Kruin down after a mere 25 rests! Many things I could have done better in the Underdark. No guardian of the crown spawned despite having Jaheira. I chose not to use the console to have that fight. In fact, I don't think I will do any of The Four fights this game (robe and gloves require mage PC, crown didn't spawn, ring is bugged) without external input.

Guardian of the crown spawns only when Cernd in party.

I can confirm what Nicoper said somewhere else. The lich is only killable via level drain. Killed him with BBoD in my runthrough. The question is: Intended or bugged?

Bugged, most probably. It wasn't like that initially. I look into it when I'll have the time.

Good/bad/ugly completed and watcher's keep up to Supreme Leader are cleared in 33 rests/59 game days, so party is ready for Suldanesslar and ToB - except that Lord Roenall is taking his sweet time and he is a Ch 6 only encounter. I've decided to complete all encounters in this run through - if I kill Demogorgon in Ch 6 and Roenall still isn't ready, I'll use the console to trigger that fight. For an absolute min playing time, I would do several things differently - more to come when I finish the run.

Re "The Four" encounters, I think the "bug" came up between v5 and v6.0. It may be intended because Sikret got pretty irritated about bards for some reason.

JD sword claimed and demon lord defeated! Game time is 69d 5h, so save time is 68d 23h. Party is preparing for its biggest challenge yet... New (slightly nerfed in this beta) Demogorgon in SoA with under-leveled characters. Roenall is still preparing to rally his forces, and the party is still wondering what is in Suldanesslar (still Ch 6).

More to come...

[attachment=4286:demon_prince.jpg]

Fight against demogorgon using this party might be really hard. Only 1 arcane caster(and not necro protag.) means that you'll probably have hard time debuffing enemies, which is vital during this encounter. On the other hand damage output of such party is probably one of the greatest damage outputs, so that short time between breach and PFMW should be enough to put enemies to sleep.
Swanmays + clan hunter sounds like OP mix too!

Please, if you can - make a detailed description of the fight, I'd love to read about your tactic and good luck with that!

Demogorgon down! I won't post a detailed tactic, but the big hint is to have casting speed -5.

Still need to end the threat by Roenall...

[attachment=4287:demogorgon.jpg]

Updated through Balthazar. Only 3 rests in TOB (hell -> skeleton horde, yaga-shura -> 1st drow group in Sendai's lair, Odamaron -> Balthazar).

Finished EDE on first try and reclaimed essence from Melissan. Final save time of 83d17h with 45 rests - well really 43 rests and 2x spell resets in Brynnlaw and Hell. If I find time/energy, I'll go back and add more details.

[attachment=4289:EDE.jpg]

The fastest playthrough would be to return to the city from the Underdark via any necessary open Ch 6 fights (Fiirkraag, Umar, Troll Mound, etc.), complete city encounters (Bodhi, Orcus, Twisted Rune, Pitre, etc.), and then head straight to Suldanesslar and then TOB while completely skipping Watcher's Keep. While this approach allows for instant forging of items obtained in WK, some of the best fights in the game (rune assassins, good/bad/ugly, necromancer quests) are skipped. Despite making several pathing mistakes that added several game days to the run, my party departed for spellhold at 25d, exited the Underdark at 37d, had cleared Bodhi, the first three levels of Watcher's Keep, and most other Ch 6 fights by 46d, but didn't start TOB until nearly 77d. TOB only took about 6-7 days. The amount of travel and quest timing restrictions (looking at you, Shimmering Light, with your four trips to Umar Hills, and Roenall, who fell after both Demogorgon AND Nizi...) in Ch 6 really added up. My guess is a a sub 60d game should be readily achievable.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend this way of playing the game to others, to be honest. It's a fun challenge to try to conserve spells and abilities in order to get through multiple encounters, but the amount of planning (and occasional backtracking/replaying) necessary to optimize takes away a bit from the "game" element. Certainly other challenges exist - not using Vagrant or Necromancer PC, not abusing RVE regen, less powerful classes (e.g. no RB or Avenger), no arcane casters, forging restrictions (say only 2 million gold for the game instead of the 3.5-4.5 million in a normal run). It goes without saying that the ultimate IA challenge, solo insane no reload, is one that is better left untouched.

On the other hand, if you play one of the (or the?) hardest mods for a 16 year old game, and read this forum, maybe a speed run is your type of challenge. If so, good luck and I look forward to reading your exploits!

Hello , is anything of this or any wal thru of this mod recorded on twitch or youtube please? i would love to watch this since i struggle in final fight of SOA for example.

I'm not sure I can recommend it due to all hate that this user gets(mainly from the original author of IA) but Saros posted most of his fights on Youtube. He's labeled as cheater, who exploits all flaws of the engine and so on, but no denying, he has vast knowledge of IA. If you're interested, then just search for "Improved Anvil v6 Second No reload JonHell Part 1". During this run he milked all possible experience and tons of gold, so his levels/items might be higher/better than yours.

Other than what is mentioned above, there are no known recordings of IA being played on youtube/twitch.

hmm thats sad ,wish there is some players dedicated to do it.

There were a couple of threads somewhere in here with videos linked to by Chinese players, but you'd have to make your way through Baidu's weird interface and language barrier (unless you're speak Mandarin/Cantonese, that is) though in order to get through. But they were quite entertaining.

thanks for answers so far i struggle to find it when i do i will post link here or keywords

Hi Matod,

Thanks for the interest. Unfortunately, I did not make any videos of the fights. If you decide to make your own or find some, please share links! Note that the difficult fights take a long time - for example, I couldn't imagine fighting the ancient dragon with a vagrant protagonist in less than an hour in real life. So the videos may not be particularly compelling to watch.

If you have any questions about fights, asking for help here is a great option since the community is quite knowledgeable and helpful. Good luck!

Hm yah but still maybe you can do it on twitch i will watch you heh i dont have that much time to go thru play and i barely finish game in easy difficulty but no glitches