Go fast!

[Krayville]

Good point. When trying to run for gold and gems, companions may be a hindrance rather than a help

[OldFartAtPlay]

The companions cause enemy aggro too. If yor toon has enough vit it's better to run story levels without them. BH can use Smoke Screen to de-aggo.

It'd be a great idea if the border of your map didn't stay red claiming that you're "still in combat" when there's not an enemy even aggro'd to you within a good 12 seconds of backtracking.

[Krayville]

Spawning enemies in story mode slows you down. BH on auto attack. Just force your char to keep going, ignore the spawned creatures. Char will keep trying to run back, but just keep forcing them forward. You might lose gold and gemstones but I think it's totally worth it for those really sloooooow worlds