Astral Ambush card farming - Fastest way to finish the quest with all optional chests

[Yummyinmytummy]

Astral Ambush is the 4th quest of the Illithid invasion. It is also the best quest to farm for cards.
You can get a total of 3 chests (boss + 2 optional) in under 20 minutes in this quest, whereas the other 3 quests only give you 2 chests and may take longer.
Hope the video helps

Other Illithid Invasion quests can be found here

 

[mikarddo]

8-10 min runs sound about right to me with a group. About the same for all 4 quests really,.

As for more cards, it is true due to 3 chests. But - ransack. Also, it is my impression that each quest more often drops a specific card so by farming just 1 of the quests you are likely to end up with more of that type of card and fewer than the other types.

I prefer just running a mix of the quests for less risk of burnout

 

[Ying]

I believe the chest lock DC is 94 which is going to be tough to reach with Knock for most casters. Good to know it's doable with Froggo.

 

[mikarddo]

I believe the chest lock DC is 94 which is going to be tough to reach with Knock for most casters. Good to know it's doable with Froggo.

A fair point. My Sorc (pretty decently build) was able to knock but had to roll several times to make the cut - so less well geared casters made indeed have an issue.

 

[saekee]

thanks for video. Got to say that it is a visually stunning quest

My stealthy assassin can get to the air elemental chest pretty fast in #3—it is by far the most efficient farm but of course just one. In the long run I think that will be my farm—hit it each week quickly.

 

[Lichcrak]

With 2 people can run in sub 5 consistently. Most mobs can be skipped only need to kill the group at the barrier and the boss fight. Agreed though its the nicest farm. But as other stated all the quests are fairly quick if just farming on r1. And each quest does have a single card type it can drop more of in the end chest.

 

[Yummyinmytummy]

Thanks all for the reply.
All valid points, on variety of quests, stealthy run of Horde of the Illithid Controller, and group runs.

Also, I thought the cards are completely random, coz I've gotten all 4 cards at 8+ in 1 chest, and then sometimes just gets 2 of 1 card.

My main issue is that I mostly solo, and I found this quest to be the easiest to get 3 quests when I solo.

 

[DBZ]

Nice write up but seems to much like the Slave lords farm Again and the cards mostly don't even matter

Without the removers its mostly pointless so u farm 10-20 decks but only 1 remover in that time

Thinking wait this one out either they add the curses and removers to all quests in game or ignore and move on

 

[DanteIL]

Thanks for sharing this video. I especially like that this wasn't a 'perfect' run, and that you showed how you managed to complete through a combination of character power, strategy, hirelings, and yes, luck! I can manage to solo these on Normal/Hard but not Elite (much less Reaper). On Hard, though, I've still sometimes gotten lucky with 8-10ish cards in the final chest.

 

[Yummyinmytummy]

Thanks for sharing this video. I especially like that this wasn't a 'perfect' run, and that you showed how you managed to complete through a combination of character power, strategy, hirelings, and yes, luck! I can manage to solo these on Normal/Hard but not Elite (much less Reaper). On Hard, though, I've still sometimes gotten lucky with 8-10ish cards in the final chest.

Thank you. I was reluctant to post non-perfect videos and was stressed just thinking about it. This is the 3rd video I recorded and the goal is to make it as short as possible so it doesn’t waste viewer’s time.

 

[saekee]

The tower mimic chest is a great stealth toon farm. You need two buttons to access it. The first is the one at the beginning, the drop down one below the entrance to the right. The other is the one over on the left.
So I just hit those two buttons, killed mimic, rinse repeat on EE til ransack.
No fun fighting the mimic with the oozes there so I respecced temporarily to have the shadow blades.

 

[Yummyinmytummy]

The tower mimic chest is a great stealth toon farm. You need two buttons to access it. The first is the one at the beginning, the drop down one below the entrance to the right. The other is the one over on the left.
So I just hit those two buttons, killed mimic, rinse repeat on EE til ransack.
No fun fighting the mimic with the oozes there so I respecced temporarily to have the shadow blades.

I thought about doing that, but the mimic is a long fight for solo, and 1 chest ransacks faster than 3 chests, so getting all three is more time-efficient.
Think of 1 long fight for each chest.
Mimic for the tower chest
Slaadkeeper for the 2nd part chest
Boss for the 3rd chest.

 

[saekee]

I thought about doing that, but the mimic is a long fight for solo, and 1 chest ransacks faster than 3 chests, so getting all three is more time-efficient.
Think of 1 long fight for each chest.
Mimic for the tower chest
Slaadkeeper for the 2nd part chest
Boss for the 3rd chest.

I am able to drop it fast but rogue assassin using Fury hits and Shadowdancer buffs/epic moment. Only real trouble was the damage buildup from the goo but even that I am able to manage.
But you are right in that if it is a long fight, one might as well grab all three.

 

[FuzzyDuck81]

Nice write up but seems to much like the Slave lords farm Again and the cards mostly don't even matter

Without the removers its mostly pointless so u farm 10-20 decks but only 1 remover in that time

Thinking wait this one out either they add the curses and removers to all quests in game or ignore and move on

I'm just using them as a "nice to have" bonus & rolling the dice to see what happens. So now I have an ML4 crafted adamantine good/slashing greatsword slotted with a meteoric star ruby that gives +6 STR while using an action boost. Great for TRs