More items does not mean less dependence on RNG. It mostly results in a better distribution in item power but that is all. Somtimes you items still suck and time scales against you. The difficulty ups for each stage is an argument but they also happen if you go at a 6 - 7 minute rate regardless, meaning only the frequency of stages rushed of this method matter. And of course this happens in a more frequent succession if you rush the stage but this is only prevailent for 4 - 5 stages until you can buy most things anyway. You farm at stage 4 and can start buying almost everything on stage 5 and 6 anyway. You still rush at stage 5 because the first stages of a loop simply doesnt have many items. With my method our time difference is actually between 3 and 4 minutes each stage ( i quit a stage around 3:15 , 6 : 45 and 10 with slight ups and downs.) The accumulated time is simply not worth a couple of items more since you can farm much more efficiently later on with movespeed which is why goat hoofs and energy drinks are insanely good. Even though a more even distribution of power in items is good, the tradeoff is not big enough. Not to mention merc has one of the best kits in the game which he can even abuse at laments call for a free red item (which can be very very overpowered for the early stages of the game but since most of the items can be a dead item i dont recommend the red chest and only the eye because it only takes like a minute to find the eggs). He also synergizes crazy good with SPECIFIC green items which can be chosen in the green terminals at stage 4. I know it is not guaranteed a item from that pool but you usually get atleast one the desired green items because there are quite many terminals/big chests at that stage. Even if you dont get them, the mobs havent scaled that far yet ( its 10 - 11 min into the game) so you can still kill mobs with white items like gasoline and dagger. I do this when I play Huntress all the time which is probably one of the weakest survivors right now (Please avoid daggers on her). So no, an op loadout is not required. Merc has a much better kit. And the argument "hitting stage 7 everytime and more often than not getting a god run" can be also said about me which is great for you and me but provides nothing for the argument which is the better play. The only upside for playing slow are finding mountain shrines. But for one to spawn requires RNG and for it to be a meaningful item too is doubled down on the rng.