I looked through the farming threads, but couldn't quite work out the best method to farm low-level items. I really really really really really really want a Trembling Staff (or six). My build is 3x level 4 dwarf wizards running firestorm. On an average draw, I can beat a map in less than a minute. My farming strategy is to alternate between the two level 3 quests (since those have the best odds for level 3 loot), quitting when I get to the final map so that I can repeat the quest. Given my understanding of how the loot drop system works, the odds of getting rarer items increase more-than-proportionately to the number of items in a chest. (Is this correct?) My question is this: is it worth repeatedly farming the first maps, or is it better to complete the final map and exhaust the quest? I'm a bit worried about completing the final maps, because it will eventually cause my dwarves to level up, and I don't have enough firestorm gear for efficient farming with the extra equipment slot.
Jumping between without completing is how I got my six Trembling Staffs. (The first six, anyway) Levels 4 and 5 are also good for level 3 items.
Ok, thanks! Here's to hoping the loot gods smile upon me sooner rather than later... *heads back to firespamming*
The odds don't depend on the number of items in the chest. They depend on the guaranteed rarity of the chest. (It's just coincidental that the chests with better guaranteed items also have more items in them.) If you're trying to farm a Common item, your best bet is the common two-item chest. If you're trying to farm a Rare item, your best bet is a chest with a guaranteed Rare item (like the MP gold chests). Failing that, a chest with a guaranteed rarity higher than Common is best, like the end-of-adventure chest with four items (two guaranteed Uncommon items). The chest item slots with higher guaranteed rarity also drop a bigger ratio of items of higher rarity than the guaranteed rarity. For example, a guaranteed Uncommon item slot drops Rare items more often than a guaranteed Common item slot. What I do is I farm the first levels of an adventure as long as I care to and then I complete the adventure when I know I won't be farming it any more that day. That way I get the best of both worlds. It's worth it to get the one shot at higher rarity items per day. You can use another team for completing the adventure and save your level 4 team for the main farming. It doesn't matter if the completion team is not operating at maximum efficiency as you'll only use it once per adventure per day. Happy hunting!
