as someone who does run of this game from time to time and is currently (as of writing this) the world record holder for the any% no relics category (video of the run is below) I thought I'd make a list in case other people want to speed run this game

this guide will first start off with general tips useful for the entire game, then afterword's it will be level specific tips based off the route that speedrunners use

some of these tips are also based around how i plan out my runs, and because everyone plays differently ill mark these kinds of tips with a + at the start



https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2029985379?t=0h0m38s (i also stream attempts of this game somewhat regularly so yeah hop on in sometime :3 )

- Gatorade/MRE's restores your sprint so stock up and try to ration them throughout the run

- if you time it right you can shove yourself out of a grapple

- you can get through menus quicker by use enter to press buttons on top of using your mouse
when tutorial pop-ups appear on screen you can press enter to get rid of them as soon as they appear

- some breakdowns are better then others, its better to get a breakdown at the campsite level than it is to get the suburban ally level, as the campsite level is smaller and a lot of easily grabbable gas spawns

- always take the highways

- DONT DRIVE THROUGHT THE HERD ITS A INSTANT GAME OVER

- Gas is your friend, don't be afraid to go slightly off course to grab some

- don't worry about gas or breakdowns when going from Sherwood to fire sign stadium as itll always go straight there no matter what

summary:
during this beginning part of the game you play as the father of Daryl/Meryl Dixon and how they found out about the outbreak of walkers, and this section your goal is to die as quick as possible, with practice you should be able to get the death around a minute after starting the run

- spam enter at the beginning to end the opening cute scene with jesse as soon as possible

- follow the guide and prepare to spam ENTER when jesse says to cut through the trees

- spam enter as you approach buck as he has a cutscene

- after that continue on with the tutorial as normal except ya know, dont sneak just run

- you can trigger the deer to move/progress the level by spooking it with a gunshot but its only withen a certain range that i have yet to find specifics for that range tho

- quickly run to where the walkers are located and and shoot on the way to them to wake them up, the walkers work on a system where they will hit you get near and have a cool down until they do so again so after the first 2 walkers hit you run and quickly find the next batch of walkers, rinse and repeat until dead and thus ends the first part of cabot ridge

- at the start when you grab the knife and sports drink spam ENTER + E to quickly grab both and skip both pop-ups

- its better to skip executing the walker that's eating behind the cabin as you can just slip by them no problem

+ I recommend skipping the rifle and only grabbing the gas as you wont be really killing walkers until your in Fontana and by then you should have the double barrel and 1/2 grenades

+ this is the only level I recommend dealing with scavenges with Jesse as he cannot die and will return with gas

- make sure to check the exit by the empty store you enter for a extra Gatorade spawn

- at the front of the super market make sure to swing far left to avoid getting grappled and to try and prevent the grapple pop-up until the scripted grapple with Jesse in Garwater

- you can jump over the car that you get prompted to push, itll set off a car alarm but the walkers aren't hard to dodge

- you do not need to kill the walker with the key to grab it, just spam E and you'll grab it eventually

- make sure to grab the extra gas behind the generator, easy way to grab it is to jump onto the barrels and then onto the fence without stopping, and jump from there

- after you grab the gas from the pump now its a mad dash back to the car and that's level complete

- do not send Jesse to scavenge as he will always die as its a scripted event

- keep a eye out for extra gas spawns on the way to the rangers station, they usually spawn next to the fire pits (Smokey would be very upset about that)

- while you wait for the ham radio to go off grab the potential MRE/Gatorade spawns in the 2 rooms behind

- after the cutscene shove the Ranger you don't have to kill him, quickly rush into his office and grab the keys and however many grenades are on his desk (hopefully 2) and dash to Jesse

- with any luck you delayed the grapple pop-up until jesses, so during the cutscene spam the enter button and then quickly finish Jesse ending the level

- you can jump over the fence and skip having to go around it if you jump on the cardboard boxes on the right

- close the door behind you when you enter the diner to prevent having to kill extra walkers

- throw the 2 grenades at center mass at each group, if you only received one use the double barrel to take care of the other group

- talk to Mia and run out the door to the Jail

- after this its a straight shot to the end of the level

- only real tip I can give is just to learn the layout of the level as its pretty much a mad dash

- other then that make sure to let Noah die to get the meds instead of helping him as its a lot faster

- grab the gas spawn by the dumpster if it is there

- you don't need to go into the gas station, you are able to talk to Meryl through the glass

- quickly grab the fireworks, if you grab the alleyway bundle you'll only need grab the ones on the way after

- after that just follow the mission and be quick with it, and then itll be smooth sailing to the end of the level

- having less items in your inventory can actually help for the later half of the level for when you have to gather your gear back, I recommend stashing everything except for a gun to kill the walkers at the end of the level

- its faster to shove the biker and execute then it is to grapple them

- this level is another mad dash, only tip i can offer is that you can shove the walker that will jump scare you at the 2nd inside door to prevent a grapple

-Its another mad dash level, just learn the route and you will be okay

- its faster to talk to the old couple then the lady across the street, but it is faster to save the girl across the street instead of the old couple

- you can grab the dudes duffel bag in the mechanic shop before you talk to him to speed it up, you can also jump off the building after to rush back you'll take a little damage but its worth it

- you cannot put things away for this level as it starts instantly and skips the start up menu, so if there is something in your car that you want, make sure to grab it at the beginning of sherwood

- this level is mostly a mad dash and then a shooting gallery at the end, so this is the time where you'd want to have your best aim and try to utilize the propane tanks to the best of their abilities

thank you for reading this, I hope this improves your runs, because I want some more people to race, plus I don't want to be the only person who has ran the no relics category lol

if you wanna see some runs live I run this game regularly on my twitch at twitch.tv/kennykrieger