diff --git a/public/templates/category.tpl b/public/templates/category.tpl
index f1b6a9c365..03a40c51b7 100644
--- a/public/templates/category.tpl
+++ b/public/templates/category.tpl
@@ -48,8 +48,8 @@
 						todo: fix this nesting if issue#1065 is a win
 						todo: add a check for config.allowTopicsThumbnail if issue#1066 is a win
 					-->
-					<a href="../../user/{topics.userslug}" class="pull-left">
-						<img src="<!-- IF topics.thumb -->{topics.thumb}<!-- ELSE -->{topics.picture}<!-- ENDIF topics.thumb -->" class="img-rounded user-img" title="{topics.username}"/>
+					<a href="../../user/{topics.user.userslug}" class="pull-left">
+						<img src="<!-- IF topics.thumb -->{topics.thumb}<!-- ELSE -->{topics.user.picture}<!-- ENDIF topics.thumb -->" class="img-rounded user-img" title="{topics.user.username}"/>
 					</a>
 
 					<h3>
diff --git a/public/templates/popular.tpl b/public/templates/popular.tpl
index 2ead0b6b08..912d2ea6e7 100644
--- a/public/templates/popular.tpl
+++ b/public/templates/popular.tpl
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@
 		<!-- BEGIN topics -->
 		<li class="category-item <!-- IF topics.deleted --> deleted<!-- ENDIF topics.deleted --><!-- IF topics.unread --> unread<!-- ENDIF topics.unread -->">
 			<div class="col-md-12 col-xs-12 panel panel-default topic-row">
-				<a href="{relative_path}/user/{topics.userslug}" class="pull-left">
-					<img class="img-rounded user-img" src="{topics.picture}" title="{topics.username}" />
+				<a href="{relative_path}/user/{topics.user.userslug}" class="pull-left">
+					<img class="img-rounded user-img" src="{topics.user.picture}" title="{topics.user.username}" />
 				</a>
 
 				<h3>
diff --git a/public/templates/recent.tpl b/public/templates/recent.tpl
index 31765697be..a3b9ebde6b 100644
--- a/public/templates/recent.tpl
+++ b/public/templates/recent.tpl
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@
 		<!-- BEGIN topics -->
 		<li class="category-item <!-- IF topics.deleted --> deleted<!-- ENDIF topics.deleted --><!-- IF topics.unread --> unread<!-- ENDIF topics.unread -->">
 			<div class="col-md-12 col-xs-12 panel panel-default topic-row">
-				<a href="{relative_path}/user/{topics.userslug}" class="pull-left">
-					<img class="img-rounded user-img" src="{topics.picture}" title="{topics.username}" />
+				<a href="{relative_path}/user/{topics.user.userslug}" class="pull-left">
+					<img class="img-rounded user-img" src="{topics.user.picture}" title="{topics.user.username}" />
 				</a>
 
 				<h3>
diff --git a/public/templates/unread.tpl b/public/templates/unread.tpl
index 58cd9eab1e..201cf76f14 100644
--- a/public/templates/unread.tpl
+++ b/public/templates/unread.tpl
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@
 			<!-- BEGIN topics -->
 			<li class="category-item<!-- IF topics.deleted --> deleted<!-- ENDIF topics.deleted -->" data-tid="{topics.tid}">
 				<div class="col-md-12 col-xs-12 panel panel-default topic-row">
-					<a href="{relative_path}/user/{topics.userslug}" class="pull-left">
-						<img class="img-rounded user-img" src="{topics.picture}" title="{topics.username}" />
+					<a href="{relative_path}/user/{topics.user.userslug}" class="pull-left">
+						<img class="img-rounded user-img" src="{topics.user.picture}" title="{topics.user.username}" />
 					</a>
 					<h3>
 						<a href="{relative_path}/topic/{topics.slug}">
diff --git a/src/database/mongo.js b/src/database/mongo.js
index a9cc09c2d4..78b3914cc2 100644
--- a/src/database/mongo.js
+++ b/src/database/mongo.js
@@ -82,18 +82,6 @@
 	//
 	// helper functions
 	//
-	function removeHiddenFields(item) {
-		if(item) {
-			if(item._id) {
-				delete item._id;
-			}
-			if(item._key) {
-				delete item._key;
-			}
-		}
-		return item;
-	}
-
 	function findItem(data, key) {
 		if(!data) {
 			return null;
@@ -261,11 +249,7 @@
 	};
 
 	module.getObject = function(key, callback) {
-		db.collection('objects').findOne({_key:key}, function(err, item) {
-			removeHiddenFields(item);
-
-			callback(err, item);
-		});
+		db.collection('objects').findOne({_key:key}, {_id:0, _key:0}, callback);
 	};
 
 	module.getObjects = function(keys, callback) {
@@ -302,7 +286,9 @@
 
 	module.getObjectFields = function(key, fields, callback) {
 
-		var _fields = {};
+		var _fields = {
+			_id: 0
+		};
 		for(var i=0; i<fields.length; ++i) {
 			if (typeof fields[i] !== 'string') {
 				fields[i] = fields[i].toString();
@@ -312,6 +298,7 @@
 			_fields[fields[i]] = 1;
 		}
 
+
 		db.collection('objects').findOne({_key:key}, _fields, function(err, item) {
 
 			if(err) {
@@ -328,8 +315,6 @@
 				}
 			}
 
-			removeHiddenFields(item);
-
 			callback(null, item);
 		});
 	};
diff --git a/src/topics.js b/src/topics.js
index 7be77d3458..b40201e69a 100644
--- a/src/topics.js
+++ b/src/topics.js
@@ -323,17 +323,35 @@ var async = require('async'),
 	};
 
 	Topics.getTopicData = function(tid, callback) {
-		db.getObject('topic:' + tid, function(err, data) {
-			if(err) {
-				return callback(err, null);
+		Topics.getTopicsData([tid], function(err, topics) {
+			if (err) {
+				return callback(err);
+			}
+
+			callback(null, topics ? topics[0] : null);
+		});
+	};
+
+	Topics.getTopicsData = function(tids, callback) {
+		var keys = [];
+
+		for (var i=0; i<tids.length; ++i) {
+			keys.push('topic:' + tids[i]);
+		}
+
+		db.getObjects(keys, function(err, topics) {
+			if (err) {
+				return callback(err);
 			}
 
-			if(data) {
-				data.title = validator.escape(data.title);
-				data.relativeTime = utils.toISOString(data.timestamp);
+			for (var i=0; i<tids.length; ++i) {
+				if(topics[i]) {
+					topics[i].title = validator.escape(topics[i].title);
+					topics[i].relativeTime = utils.toISOString(topics[i].timestamp);
+				}
 			}
 
-			callback(null, data);
+			callback(null, topics);
 		});
 	};
 
@@ -352,9 +370,12 @@ var async = require('async'),
 					userData = {};
 				}
 
-				topic.username = userData.username || 'Anonymous';
-				topic.userslug = userData.userslug || '';
-				topic.picture = userData.picture || gravatar.url('', {}, true);
+				topic.user = {
+ 					username: userData.username || 'Anonymous',
+ 					userslug: userData.userslug || '',
+ 					picture: userData.picture || gravatar.url('', {}, true)
+				};
+
 				callback(null, topic);
 			});
 		});
@@ -671,73 +692,86 @@ var async = require('async'),
 			return callback(null, []);
 		}
 
-		function getTopicInfo(topicData, callback) {
+		var categoryCache = {},
+			privilegeCache = {},
+			userCache = {};
+
+		function loadTopicInfo(topicData, next) {
+
+			function isTopicVisible(topicData, topicInfo) {
+				var deleted = parseInt(topicData.deleted, 10) !== 0;
+				return !deleted || (deleted && topicInfo.privileges.view_deleted) || parseInt(topicData.uid, 10) === parseInt(uid, 10);
+			}
+
 			async.parallel({
-				hasread : function (next) {
+				hasread: function(next) {
 					Topics.hasReadTopic(topicData.tid, uid, next);
 				},
-				teaser : function (next) {
+				teaser: function(next) {
 					Topics.getTeaser(topicData.tid, next);
 				},
-				privileges : function (next) {
+				privileges: function(next) {
+					if (privilegeCache[topicData.cid]) {
+						return next(null, privilegeCache[topicData.cid]);
+					}
 					categoryTools.privileges(topicData.cid, uid, next);
 				},
-				categoryData : function (next) {
+				categoryData: function(next) {
+					if (categoryCache[topicData.cid]) {
+						return next(null, categoryCache[topicData.cid]);
+					}
 					categories.getCategoryFields(topicData.cid, ['name', 'slug', 'icon'], next);
+				},
+				user: function(next) {
+					if (userCache[topicData.uid]) {
+						return next(null, userCache[topicData.uid]);
+					}
+					user.getUserFields(topicData.uid, ['username', 'userslug', 'picture'], next);
 				}
-			}, callback);
-		}
-
-		function isTopicVisible(topicData, topicInfo) {
-			var deleted = parseInt(topicData.deleted, 10) !== 0;
-
-			return !deleted || (deleted && topicInfo.privileges.view_deleted) || parseInt(topicData.uid, 10) === parseInt(uid, 10);
-		}
-
-		function loadTopic(tid, next) {
-
-			Topics.getTopicDataWithUser(tid, function(err, topicData) {
+			}, function(err, topicInfo) {
 				if(err) {
 					return next(err);
 				}
 
-				if (!topicData) {
+				privilegeCache[topicData.cid] = topicInfo.privileges;
+				categoryCache[topicData.cid] = topicInfo.categoryData;
+				userCache[topicData.uid] = topicInfo.user;
+
+				if (!isTopicVisible(topicData, topicInfo)) {
+					topicData = null;
 					return next();
 				}
 
-				getTopicInfo(topicData, function(err, topicInfo) {
-					if(err) {
-						return next(err);
-					}
-
-					if (!isTopicVisible(topicData, topicInfo)) {
-						return next();
-					}
-
-					topicData.pinned = parseInt(topicData.pinned, 10) === 1;
-					topicData.locked = parseInt(topicData.locked, 10) === 1;
-					topicData.deleted = parseInt(topicData.deleted, 10) === 1;
-					topicData.unread = !(topicInfo.hasread && parseInt(uid, 10) !== 0);
-					topicData.unreplied = parseInt(topicData.postcount, 10) === 1;
+				topicData.pinned = parseInt(topicData.pinned, 10) === 1;
+				topicData.locked = parseInt(topicData.locked, 10) === 1;
+				topicData.deleted = parseInt(topicData.deleted, 10) === 1;
+				topicData.unread = !(topicInfo.hasread && parseInt(uid, 10) !== 0);
+				topicData.unreplied = parseInt(topicData.postcount, 10) === 1;
 
-					topicData.category = topicInfo.categoryData;
-					topicData.teaser = topicInfo.teaser;
+				topicData.category = topicInfo.categoryData;
+				topicData.teaser = topicInfo.teaser;
+				topicData.user = topicInfo.user;
 
-					next(null, topicData);
-				});
+				next();
 			});
 		}
 
-		async.map(tids, loadTopic, function(err, topics) {
-			if(err) {
+		Topics.getTopicsData(tids, function(err, topics) {
+			if (err) {
 				return callback(err);
 			}
 
-			topics = topics.filter(function(topic) {
-				return !!topic;
-			});
+			async.eachSeries(topics, loadTopicInfo, function(err) {
+				if(err) {
+					return callback(err);
+				}
 
-			callback(null, topics);
+				topics = topics.filter(function(topic) {
+					return !!topic;
+				});
+
+				callback(null, topics);
+			});
 		});
 	};