PWAD: remanence.wad
PWAD Name: Remanence
Map: 1
Skill: 4
Category: UV-Max
Exe: DSDA-Doom 0.29.4 complevel 21
Recorded on: 12/9/25
Time: 46:08
Author: Twilight
Attempts: over 900!
Description: The attempt count is really inflated because getting a run past the first arch vile jump (copying Crusador560's route) was very inconsistent.  This is also my first use of an arch vile jump, so that took some practice.  The setup for the 2nd jump is very consistent.  Then you have to deal with trying to press the platforms under the afrits who sometimes like to just instagib you.  But I guess this punishment is self-inflicted, since this is not the intended route through the map.  
The 4 cyber bfg fight always felt like a coin flip.  If 1 stays on the edge and doesn't walk toward the middle, it is easy to eat a rocket. Even if you don't catch some rockets, the cacos spawn in so fast and constrict your movement that if the cybers don't group up, you might not kill them fast enough.  This comes 6 minutes into the run, which may not seem like a lot of time, but with the amount of reseting I had to do in the first minute (which consists of sitting around and hoping the grenadiers fire), it got really annoying to lose runs to that fight. 
Then I found that waiting 25 seconds was enough time to herd the starting enemies away from the drop down after you grab the red key.  That clean up was always messy with pain elementals and cacos everywhere from the fight that is teleporting in enemies down below. 
The fight after pressing the red switch is the last early barrier to a solid attempt.  In the successful run, my bfg shots on the vile were bad. He usually never lives long enough to zap you. You always want to avoid hitting the cyber with tracers because you want him to infight. I'm not convinced there isn't a better route for this fight.  But if you can survive the first pass where the revenants spawn in and grab the mega, you should be fine. 
I don't know why, but the infighting down below went really well this time. I've had attempts where the viles don't die and they resurrect everything and they all greet you when you're coming up the stairs. This was by far the least trouble I had going down the stairs later in the map. 
After the red switch fight, the nerves really set in for me because I know I have real shot at completing the map from here.  The majority of the run consists of fights you shouldn't have the bfg for, which means it is a huge advantage.
This was my first long slaughter map like this, and I didn't really anticipate how nervous I would get. For the last 3 fights, my heart was pounding!  It also didn't help dropping from 200 to 8 health from a cyber rocket and some rev missiles right at the start of the fight before the finale arena.  I never got hit by killing that grenadier in practice, but I usually used the bfg to kill him and then shoot one more shot at the revs while I keep moving.  Since I was low on cells, I decided to use rockets and this slowed me down and left me vulnerable. 
I think the strat for the first wave of the finale is really good. Just do a horseshoe without going too close the the teleporters if you can help it. Do 1 or 2 passes in the front close to the revs, and then when the hell nobles come in, switch to the outside part of the horseshoe.  In my only other attempt that made it to the finale, I didn't even take damage for most of the first wave of it.  The only problem is that you are sometimes in range of the viles and they can zap you, as it happens to me right at the start of the fight. 
For the final wave of weak cybers, I feel like my strat is good and actually pretty safe, but this run shouldn't convince you! In practice, this was never a problem.  Just do a quick shallow circle, wait a little for things to come toward the center and then just circle and bfg spam.  But of course on a real run, a lost soul blocks me and I take a cluster of afrit missiles!  Then later I had to retreat to the top area for a while and this allows the cybers to start flanking me and I eat another rocket.  Thankfully the first wave went so well that I got to save a mega.  
I was shooting for sub 45 minutes, but even with the good infighting down the stairs, I slowed down quite a bit due to nerves.  This was a huge accomplishment for me as it was my first big macroslaughter single segment!
The palette and fall/ruins theme for this wad look so damn good! That's a big reason why I could tolerate so many attempts at this. 

TL;DR: Sub 45 is possible! Someone go do it! As for me, I'm sick of the start of this route.    

