I think you need to check your random generator. Every time I need to get items in a combat whether its just 2 or 3 or even more I can't get them in less than 6 combat cycles its always try again I know its supposed to be random but it seems to be weighted a bit on the minus side than is truly random I may be wrong but if it were truly random at least once or twice in 50 levels I could get 2 or 3 items in just 2 cycles instead of between 6 and 12 but I never did and I have 2 grand masters one fire and the other myth