i'm curious to see if everyone is just doing alkaizer runs, or some modified version?
here is my "usual" run:

act3
rakkis crossing - check for underbridges and bridges stores (2 if not more elites on this short run)
keeps 3 to get my 5 stack
stonefort (if i'm short on time)

keeps 1 (now replaced with keeps2)
arreat 1
first tower 1-2
arreat 2
2nd tower 1-2
core

this usually takes me about an hour if not 1.5 (if i'm met with some tough packs)
I feel like i'm not farming items/xp very efficiently, however, my thought is that since i've got 5 stacks, i should try to maximize it by killing EVERYTHING

please tell me i'm doing it wrong, and that i should just stick to a quick dense route over and over aka alkaizer

what is your current run? open to any act of course

Been doing the same run since I could farm Act 3. Act 3 is BY FAR the best act still because of mob/elite density.

I run on MP4. MP5 is too slow (and reflect dmg too annoying).

1) Keeps 3
2) Keeps 1
3) Keeps 2
4) Bridge of Korsikk (just go in a straight path, check bridge store/underbridge) all the way to Arreat 1
5) Arreat 1
6) Arreat 2
7) Tower of the Cursed - Kill Cydaea

Takes about 30-45 minutes. I don't pick up very much loot. I don't backtrack. I don't stop for gold. My MF with PL, follower, 5 NV, and MP is still pretty decent (380%), so I don't use any MF gear. I don't use the hellfire ring either. My philosophy is this: after getting 5 NV ASAP, I'm trying to reach the densest packs of mobs as quickly as possible. Time spent doing anything else is a waste to me. It's kind of a mindset you have to get into, but it's worked out for me (at least in time spent vs. exp/gold gained).

My MP3 Run for EXP using Archon with Hellfire and Leorics:

1) Keeps 3 - Clear
2) Core of Areat - Till I get 5 NV stacks then warp out. (rarely happens. I should actually restart the game at this point. Maybe I'll do that now. Thanks for this thought exercise).
If no 5 NV stacks, then:
3) Keeps 1 - Till 5 NV stacks then warp out
4) Fields of Slaughter - Circle Fields of Slaughter once in a figure 8 and then hit the Rakkis Crossing till end
5) Arreat 1
6) Arreat 2
7) Stonefort

Always going forward, I have storm armor to pick off the stragglers (works in archon form also), 24% movement speed (faster if use scramble rune), and 21 yard gold pickup. Looking to get another 7 yards real soon.

My MF run is same as above on MP7 through 10 using CM/WW/FN build.

Khan (and anyone else) - This thread may interest you, if you haven't seen it yet:

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/7004695453

The latest quick low-MP run I tried was with a Wiz friend and we both did a simple Archon build, with the intent that one person would Archon as much as possible, then the other would start his as the first wears off. By constantly alternating between the two, there should be zero downtime of someone being On as long as you're coordinated. It worked out pretty well I think.

@ammostiel thanks for the post, @khan actually posted the same info in a diff thread :)

I tried the Alkaiser Run and I am pretty addicted to it now.

I think this could be the most efficient run. 10m XP 10 minutes ?? How many monsters die in this 10 minutes ?!

The original (I tried adding Rakkis Crossing after 5NV etc, but I find it still less efficient overall):

Once you done the proper quest (Kill Azmodan, and you reached the checkpoint just outside Azmodan):

When you next resume game
1. Core of Arreat (you run backwards from the checkpoint just outside Azmodan, and run towards the waypoint)
2. Tower of the Damned level 1 (you pop from the waypoint and run one big circle back to the same waypoint)
3. Bridge of Corsaic (you run around the fields of slaughter, skip cave, and run it such that you will end up at the same waypoint)
4. Keep level 2 (from keep level1 waypoint.........Very dense mobs. I got my most Massacre Kills from here....107 monsters killed)

Portal out and leave the game. When you resume, you will resume from Step 1. If you do it right you only need to use the portal once to go back to town, the rest of the time is just waypoint waypoint waypoint.

The whole run took me 10-12 minutes (123k DPS, Fist of Thunder close up rune, +31% movement speed). Each run net me around 10m XP and 130-150k gold picked up. I run it on MP1 ~~ at which I can one shot and which I won't die.

I found it funny that when I switch my focus to XP farming (I just want to gain those few extra levels fast so that I can get a new P portrait!), I go a legendary almost every run i.e. every 10 minutes. I still have decent MF on me, around 250 unbuffed.

I pick up only orange, green and certain yellows (see my other post on what rares to pick up).
I skip chest except respendent.
I occasionally click on bodies and regular chest, especially when I am still engaging in a fight and was just dancing around.
I sometimes backstep to loot golds of 2k piles (I have pickup radius of 6 yards)
I tried to constantly move forward (and let the monsters follow you and you can kill more of them in mass, or they die half way following you lol)

I'm doing a very short version run on low MP.

Tower of the Damned 1 (Just run the circle from Waypoint back to the waypoint) 1-3 Elites.
Then I port strait down to Tower of the Cursed 1.
Tower of the Cursed 2. (Usually on 5NV by now. happened once that I had to go search for another elite)
Cydaea
Core of Arreat
Azmodan
--> Then if I feel like searching for a key I add a Stonefort run.

Entire run takes me about 15 minutes. And that is with a DH, not a lickity-speed Barbarian.

I can probably get more XP if I do longer runs, but this run is nice if you have short bursts of time.

@douvinsky

How are you getting 10M exp on that run? I just did it (on MP2) with a ruby and hellfire ring and only got 7M. I didn't clear all of Keeps Level 2, but if I do that, there's no way I can finish in 10 minutes. I've tried all sorts of variations, but I can't consistently break 7M in 10 minutes. Lower MP is slightly more efficient, but I have no idea how you can get 10M...

There short runs on lower MP are definitely better for exp farming though. I think you still want to extend them for the sake of hitting more elites with 5 NV, but I'm really starting to become a fan of lower MP now...

Edit: Managed 9M in 10 minutes on the 2nd half of one run, but the total over 20 minutes was only 16M.

i'm thinking i need to shorten my run, HOWEVER my brain always says "what if that next elite pack drops xyz!?"
i gotta stop thinking that and just kill and move on :/
i'll try the actual alkaizer run and see how it fares... i never record how much xp i'm gaining, but i'll try it the next few times

@euggie

I used to be the exact same way. Not clearing the entire level from cover to cover, but I would backtrack for elites, chase down stragglers, etc. I'm an engineer so I'm used to thinking logically a lot, but I also suffer from OCD so sometimes I become obsessed with clearing everything. I think I started to develop a little more "faith" in fast clearing after I got a few legendaries while rushing through. It made me realize that I'm not really missing anything and the odds of a straggler carrying a worthwhile legendary that somehow dies off screen and doesn't activate the legendary drop noise are so miniscule that it's a failure rate I can live with. Especially when the benefits are minutes, hours, even days of playing time saved over the course of hundreds of runs.

@metta i guess my engineering side is inline with yours... i'll have to try and block him out :)
i guess mathematically/statistically speaking, more runs should net you more loot, but RNG is RNG!

so any act1 or act2 runs? i hated act2 during my progression so i never go back except for the KW
although, i did find 2 legendaries in the vaults on my way to a 5 stack in 1 run...

@euggie

Yup. I'd never judge others for employing certain strategies or doing certain things because I'm not one to judge and I certainly don't have the answers to what is right. I just use statistics to justify my own behavior and to defend myself from attackers (both in games and in real life).

Posted by Metta at 11/09/2012 02:59 PM

I just use statistics to justify my own behavior and to defend myself from attackers (both in games and in real life).

ahhhh, statistics. I heart thee.

My act 2 run is black canyon mines - road to alcarnus - dahlgur oasis - desolate sands - VOA - kulle

It's pretty short, but it's pretty elite dense. Experience wise, I think it's not very good (except for VOA). Act 2 (and Act 1) are probably just for variety and the keys. I've already got binders full of machines though so I'm kinda done farming keys.

Act 1 Run:

Festering Woods: 3-5 elite packs
Cemetary
Warden
Butcher
Misery - if I feel like key farming

I haven't broken down the xp/hr our anything, but it's a nice change for me. I like the boss fights.

@Metta

In my first trial of the Alkaiser Run, I did scribble down my starting XP and gold level so that I can judge the efficiency of the run, and in my first trial I did get 10m XP. I didn't complete my first run in 10 minutes though, as I was being inefficient with a few deaths and was finding the tricks to do the run. However, I am pretty sure that it is still below 15 minutes (if it was 15 minutes then your 7m XP per 10 minutes is at par with my first run). What I am going to do is to time myself again and see what's the max XP I could gain per 10 minutes. I see this as a challenge to myself, and if I found any good tricks I will share them.

You are an engineer? No wonder the logic and statistics guide you! My works involve assessing probability of occurrence and the expected returns, hence I am guided by these. I skip picking up class specific rare gears, knowing that they have even rarer chance of being worthy. Gold pickup is still important to me though at my current financial position, although efficiency wise I do not step back for 1k gold piles. One thing I am not sure about are the chests and pots, whether they have higher probabilities of yielding good items than the regular mobs. If they have 10x more chances of yielding a legendary, I will just stop by and open them!

@Metta

I just tested the following using a stopwatch:

1) MP0 - 9.5 minutes - 7.3m XP (equivalent to 7.7m per 10 min)
2) MP1 - 8.0 minutes - 6.0m XP (equivalent to 7.5m per 10 min)

MP1 has shorter run time as I did not quite finish the Keep, went too far off to efficiently walk back to the other side. My MP2 runs were bad as I still die once in a while due to my low HP & low resist. I think my sweet spot should be MP1, if I could continue the remaining couple of minutes with dense mobs I should be able to net more XP from 5 NVs.

The above are run with Hellfire ring x 2 (one on follower), and +25% XP Ruby.
I am quite happy with the above using monk instead of WW Barb :P

(Edit: my previously recorded 10m XP per run seems to be based on a fuller clear with longer run time, I could have visited the KW or added Rakkis Crossing within the 15 minutes, or I just got lucky with early NVs and denser mobs? Haha)