Dark Souls: the record of a speedrun considered unbeatable has been broken, here's how

In 2021 speedrunner CapitaineToinon earned a incredible record for the fastest category of Dark Souls, “Any%Force Quit”. This was such a remarkable achievement that it practically killed the entire category, as no one could do better. Until today.

In the video below you can see the entire story of the new record.

First of all, however, it is important understand which category we are talking about. The “Any%Force Quit” asks you to complete the game (i.e. beat Gwyn) in the shortest time possible. “Force Quit”, however, is a glitch that allows you to teleport the character to certain points on the map.

The strategy used by CapitaineToinon she was considered the best and her execution was so perfect that many believed it was impossible to improve on her result. The solution instead was to completely change the approach.

How the previous and new speedrun works

The original route it involved the player using the Wrong Warp glitch to cut through much of the game, skipping straight to the final area.

To do this, the players had little room for maneuver: They had to kill Quelaag and the Gargoyles to ring the Bells of Awakening and open the Firelink Shrine, defeat Ornstein and Smough to obtain the Lords' Vessel that would allow them to enter the shrine, and then head to Gwyn for the final showdown .

The record path uses the Hunter class; with the universal key as a gift, which allows you to open practically any door. This route, which also relied on the mace weapon and included trips to the Infamous City and Sen's Fortress, was gradually tweaked over the course of six years, meaning that when Capitaine achieved its record (19:49 minutes) , it was clear why Dark Souls players felt there was still little room for improvement.

OpaqueGlassJar, known as Silent Hill's speedrunner, however, proposed a new idea. Instead of using the mace, the player went for the Black Knights sword.

Opaque suggested a completely new path, which begins with a trip to the Undead Merchant to purchase a bow, meaning speedrunners aren't forced to use the Hunter. From there, they could bet on getting the Black Knight's sword (there's no guarantee of getting it, so the speedrun also relies on luck) and then continue the race towards the Bull Demon, who can be glitched from his bridge for a quick kill. Another glitch allows you to upgrade the Black Knight's Sword for additional damage. From there, the racer faces the Bell Gargoyles, then returns to the Firelink Shrine with a Wrong Warp and skips all of Blighttown on the way to Quelaag, before the rest of the race continues much the same as the original route.

It was clear to the Dark Souls speedrunning community that this route could be faster, but it was re-optimized before anyone could even run it. Another speedrunner, AndrovT, suggested using the treacherous Havel Tower jump, which saved 20-30 seconds more than that route. From there, a series of different glitches – negative duplication, delayed fall damage cancellation, manipulation of the game's stored data, and more – allowed the speedrunner to get to Quelaag and continue the rest of the race.

Once this version was discovered, Capitaine's original record of 19 minutes and 49 seconds was quickly beaten by ten seconds. And then another eight seconds. Capitaine brought the count to 19:09, but eventually the record was lowered to 18:51 by QueueKyoowhich holds numerous other Dark Souls records in several categories.

This record, which beat Capitaine's original record by over a minute, has yet to be surpassed despite the efforts of many.