Yeah, to be fair, I just start at Leoric's Manor and work my way back through the Highlands clearing every nook and cranny, until I get to the waypoint at Highlands passage. Then I might go back and go through the tombs at the Haunted crypts (whatever it's called).
At that point I don't have the strength to go on.
It's not really a great run, you are missing some of the better / faster areas:
1. First field north of town, 2 - 8 packs, 0 - 2 goblins, 0 - 1 chests. It's very fast to clear. You will only get 2 - 4 packs if there is no cave, you can get up to 4 more and a chest if the cave is up (I'd say about 40% chance).
2. Cemetary should always be cleared. You have a 30% chance ish for a pack to be in the Cemetary itself, then you'll have 3 crypts with 2 - 4 packs each. You also have a chance for a goblin in each crypt and also you'll always get 1 event up. Both events give at least 1 rare when you finish it if you have 5 stacks.
3. Festering Woods should also always be cleared. It's a small area that can have 1 event (extra pack) and 2 static champion packs in the tombs. The woods themselves can have 1 goblin and also up to 4 packs.
4. Cathedral level 2 and 3 should also be cleared as they have 2 - 4 packs per level. They are also very small and you can clear both pretty quickly.
If you're going for a short run then I'd do the following:
Spawn at town, head straight north out of town and clear the field and cave if it's up. Head into the Cemetery and clear all the crypts and the event (make sure you have 5 stacks when doing the event). Port back to town and spawn in the Festering Woods and clear the area and both tombs, also the event if it's up. Port back to town then to Cathedral Garden and head downstairs towards to the Skeleton King and clear levels 2 and 3.
If you want to continue from there, port back out and spawn at Highlands Crossing and clear the Southern Highlands as well as the Moon Clan cave. Head into Northern Highlands and look along the west ridge for the Watchtower in case that's up - if so clear it. Port to town, spawn at Leoric's Manor and go backwards through it as there's a 50/50 chance of a pack being up inside the Manor and 1 - 2 packs at the entrance to the Manor from the Highlands. After that you can stop there or clear the Halls of Agony and both bosses. Make sure you are starting at The Cursed Hold quest so the Jailer is up.
Oh lastly Fields of Misery - it's very hit and miss, you can at maximum get up to about 13 - 14 packs, 4 chests and 3 goblins but cans get much lower if the Mine and Crypt aren't up and get unlucky with the events.
