Grinding Strikes/Speed-running/Gear Farming

For everyone who doesn't know, Bungie's upcoming patch is going to block all known "engram farming spots" such as the Vex strike farm on Venus and the patrol on Mars. In light of this me, and example spent the weekend grinding strikes and recording our fastest times for future speed runs. Note that this is for the Vanguard Tiger playlist and some mission will have to be skipped because they're a waste of time. I'll list them from fastest to shortest and a brief description on how to run them faster, although its should be pretty straight forward already. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Moon Strike: Summoning Pits[/b] - 7:31 (this was our fastest time out of about 12 tries so i wouldn't expect to get this on your first try) Average times varied between 8-10 minutes, depending on how well you can clear the boss room. If you run it clean, you'll reach the final room at 4:00-4:45. This is running through the entire mission literally without killing anything on the way. At the start of the mission your goal is to use your Sparrow to drive past as much as you can or, preferably, till you get to your first objective. (using your Ghost to open the door while you survive 3 waves. After you've made it inside the first room, immediately watch both doors on the left and prepare any rockets/grenades/specials you have available. around 15 thralls will spawn so just blow em up as soon as they exit the door, then a small group of knights. you'll have roughly 20 second to get to the opposite side before the next wave spawns up. Apply the same idea to this wave but be ready to use more than one rocket as yellow Acolytes and 2 Wizards will come out rather quickly. About the time you clear that the Knights will spawn on both sides, should be quick and easy to get rid of them. The Last wave spawns in the middle and lower two doors. All that matters is that you take out the exploding thralls then the rest of the several thralls, knights, and wizards that spawn. For the next parts of the strike, [b]RUN[/b]. You can now sprint to the boss without doing any actual work. The best strategy we've found is minimal MOB clearing and all three focusing the boss. [b]Drops: [/b] As far as drops go, this mission is about average. After several run through's we would earn about 1 rare engram each, and even 2 legendary engrams dropped out of 12 runs ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Venus Strike: The Nexus [/b] - 11:41 - Average times for this can expect to be 12-14ish. This mission's clear out to the boss room is the fastest out of any of strike, getting you there, if done properly, at the 3 - 3:30 mark. The only thing that makes this mission slow is the health and shield of the boss. However, it's very possible to reach times under 9-10min if you use rocket/special consumables. Probably the most straightforward mission, clear the first restricted spawn room and rush to the boss. First area spawns in three waves, far back left, front left and right side. Everything else is easily avoided and should be a breeze ,even for lower leveled players. Quickest way to kill the boss is simply having people in every corner so he's constantly getting DPS'd. If done correctly you'll only have to deal with 3-4 waves of vex while taking him down. [b]Drops:[/b] This is the best strike, as far as I've seen that consistently delivers good drops, both during the round and after completion. We didn't get any legendary drops but we averaged 2-3 rare engrams per run here, as well as a frequent strange coin drop as a completion reward. It may just be coincidence but i's about triple what I've gotten from the other strikes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Mars Strike: Cerberus Vae III[/b] - 17:41 Average times include anywhere from 17-21 minutes depending on how successful you are at running through enemies. This strike's value lies in the larger amounts of experience you gain from multiple min-boss enemies and the many loot chests that can be found along the way. Basically the ideal strike to farm for Relic Iron (upgrade materials) and level your gear at the same time. The first area you need to be aware of is the very start of the strike, there's consistently 3-4 chests within sight of the immediate room you begin your quest. Behind the building to the right is the most common and all others aren't hidden and should be easy to find. These chests are random spawn so look in different areas every time you replay. After clearing the first area for loot, speed run your way to the 3 guards. On the right side of the canyon wall, adjacent to the watch tower, there's several caves with good chances of spawning loot chests. Clear the 3 guards then clear the tank. Rush your way to the next building that houses the boss. Outside there are several more caves as well as solo resources to gather. 2-3 chests spawn in your immediate area and the most common places include under/near the stairs and on the left side of the building. Kill the boss and end you run. [b]Drops: [/b] This strike's drops, as far as engrams go, have been sub-par for the amount of time spent on the map. It may just be awful luck on mine and my buddies part but after several runs we averaged only 1 (often 0) rare drop for the whole strike, while speed running. Not including the random reward, of course. We did however get one legendary engram to drop out of 7 runs so not everything is all bad. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Earth Strike: The Devils' Lair[/b] 23:52 ran through this once and it was too long to justify more runs. The only value this strike has is in its Nightfall weekly challenge and is literally useless for speed farming. [b]Drops:[/b] This strike has a very good rare engram drop rate of 2-3 per run but is held back by the long amounts of time required to get them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]Venus Strike: Winter's Run[/b] I would sooner uninstall the game rather than to try and speed run this strike. [b]Drops: [/b] No, just no. [b][u]*WARNING* playing this strike for farming purposes may cause permanent brain damage *WARNING*[/u][/b]