Speed ascension

A speed ascension is a type of informal conduct, taking one of two forms: lowest turn-count, or shortest real time elapsed. Short ascensions tend to be low turn-count ascensions too.

How fast is fast?
First ascensions vary greatly in turn-count, with most falling between 50,000 and 100,000 turns. A careful well-spoiled player can ascend in under 50,000 turns with most classes, and ascensions below 30,000 are not uncommon. Anything below 20,000 probably counts as a speed ascension.

Real-time speed records are very hard to determine, since vanilla NetHack does not track real time elapsed.

General speed strategy

 * Don't fully map every level
 * Be very fast early on
 * Avoid monsters rather than fighting them

Specific speed tactics

 * Move diagonally
 * Kick down doors
 * Wear a ring of conflict
 * Wish for The Eye of the Aethiopica
 * Teleport into the Sanctum
 * Use a helm of opposite alignment to reduce time spent on the Astral Plane