Any looting strategies for Puzzle Quest 2?

Question

I manage to match rare chests probably only in 1 looting minigame out of 5. Are there any strategies to increase this chance?

As I understand 2 rare chests appear in random places after "heroic effort", and 1 rare chest appears in place of 5 in a row match? I am trying to find 5 or 4 in a row preferably in bottom 30-50% part of an available board. The lower you match the more chances that you will get heroic effort, but if not your chests will be removed sooner too.

UPDATE: My new best strategy: Just do a match of a horizontal 3-5 row as low on the board as possible, and let luck do the rest. Heroic efforts give you the best chances to match rare items, and the lower you do your match the more chances you have to create a heroic effort.

Answer 1

Unfortunately, as with most parts of Puzzle Quest, you need to rely mostly on luck. When I start, I usually wait a moment to see which move the game recommends to me, as it'll prioritize a 4/5 match, and it usually prioritizes (as far as I can tell) a match that will cause a chain reaction over one that will not. There is no real time pressure for looting, so don't rush, and take your time to evaluate your board position.

Try to be aware of how many moves you can make before the bottom row disappears. Usually it's around 3 matches. Sometimes you have the opportunity to move a Rare Chest up a row by making a simple 3 match, which will at least give you a little more breathing room to try to save it.

Often, I will try to make a 4 match in the middle to the top area. Then, even though the Rares are higher up, there's more chance for them to be matched because they'll likely fall lower by themselves as you make other matches.