Like a lot of people still playing in the Postknight late game, farming for materials to max out every piece of equipment is one of the main time fillers for me. Even for people in early and midgame, maxing droprates is important (maybe even more so). And yet it can be hard to tell how much of an impact different droprate buffs are having as you play – e.g. is Loot Luxury really giving you that many more materials, and if so HOW many?
If Loot Luxury is giving you more items per run, is that enough of a boost to make up for the slow down in playthrough times from not using Blitz? Likewise, the Golden Harvest II bonus on the Halycon Unearther is definitely tempting, but does it work? and how does missing out on the combat and speed benefits of a lighter, more deadly weapon (say, a Feral Dagger for example) stack up? Is that 10% extra in item drops worth it?
To help answer these questions and decide for myself the ideal balance of speed and droprate maximisation for the best farming experience, (and to make myself feel like I was doing something useful rather than just spending countless hours playing a phone game) I devised an experiment:
Experiment

- Pick a level. I chose Cryptic Hollow because itβs a bit quicker to get through than the Fractured Forest paths (and I also just have a soft spot for Valley of Gold).

- Define the different sets to be tested. These are :
- Test 1 – Baseline: Without the Halycon Unearther OR Loot Luxury. Using blitz and my usual favourite equipment (blitz, feral buffer, phantom crown, primal garb).
- Test 2: WITH Halycon Unearther and all other settings as per baseline test.
- Test 3: WITH Loot Luxuy and all other settings as per baseline test.

- Play each test configuration ten times on Cryptic Hollow and record run time, gold earned and total number of items found for each run.

- Average the ten runs on each test configuration to get an average run time, gold earned and total number of items found for each configuration.
- Compare the configurations. Declare the winner.
Results

Here are the averaged results from each test configuration. To see the individual data from each run, scroll to the Data section at the bottom of the article. All these tests were carried out while wearing the Fortune Ring and the Lucky Ring. Iβm not sure if thereβs a limit to how far you can increase the drop rate. If there is, this might effect the efficacy of items like the Halycon Unearther, and they may work better for players who arenβt using the rings. Thatβs just a complete guess though. If anyone without the rings wants to do a test of their own with the same gear to see the effect of the rings Iβd love to see the results and could add the info to this post.But, all the details aside, hereβs what I figured out:
Test 1 – Baseline
AVERAGE = 01β58β/98,572 gold/108 items
Test 2 – Halycon Unearther
AVERAGE = 02β22β/98,536 gold/108 items
Test 3 – Loot Luxury
AVERAGE = 02β42β/98,220 gold/133 items
What does this mean?
This means that Halycon Unearther failed to make any difference on item droprates, slightly reduced gold found and extended level time from 01β58β to 02β22β, making each run 20% slower.
Loot Luxury made each run even longer with an average runtime of 02β42β, slowing each level by 37%. But unlike the Halycon Unearther, using Loot Luxury DID increase item drops from 108 in total to 133 per run. Thatβs an increase of 37%, gaining in item drops exactly what was lost in speed.
Oddly enough there was a small drop in gold found with every run getting the exact same gold amount of 98,220 while using Loot Luxury. Iβm pretty sure this is because of the reduced movement speed, which means I wasnβt able to hit any of the Cricleβs before they exploded meaning I missed out on their extra gold.

Data
City: Valley of Gold
Route: Cryptic Hollow
Gear: Feral dagger, feral buffer, phantom crown, primal garb.
Skills: Blitz, elusive cover.
Time/gold/total items dropped:
01β56β/98,540/106
02β13β/98,860/113
01β58β/98,540/115
01β46β/98,540/101
01β56β/98,540/112
01β58β/98,540/102
02β03β/98,540/117
01β58β/98,540/103
02β00β/98,540/118
01β54β/98,540/100
AVERAGE = 01β58β/98,572/108
City: Valley of Gold
Route: Cryptic Hollow
Gear: HALYCON UNEARTHER, feral buffer, phantom crown, primal garb.
Skills: Blitz, elusive cover.
Time/gold/total items dropped:
02β24β/98,540/113
02β28β/98,860/95
02β15β/98,220/116
02β18β/98,180/114
02β26β/98,860/113
02β28β/98,540/97
02β08β/98,220/114
02β22β/98,540/107
02β30β/98,540/ 111
02β24β/98,860/106
AVERAGE = 02β22β/98,536/108
City: Valley of Gold
Route: Cryptic Hollow
Gear: Feral dagger, feral buffer, phantom crown, primal garb.
Skills: LOOT LUXURY, elusive cover.
Time/gold/total items dropped:
02β47β/98,220/131
02β48β/98,220/131
02β36β/98,220/147
02β44β/98,220/126
02β45β/98,220/136
02β47β/98,220/131
02β37β/98,220/134
02β39β/98,220/133
02β42β/98,220/138
02β44β/98,220/124
AVERAGE = 02β42β/98,220/133
