They've nerfed this to the ground. Ask a legacy player what they had to go through and come back.

The Atma portion is actually one of the easiest parts of this quest. Yeah it's random, but it is also easy. I have completed x4 ARR relics, and while it often takes 2-3 days to complete the Atma portion based on my own playtime, you can at least spam the living crap out of the FATEs in attempt to acquire the atmas. That's why it is RNG. The relic quests are designed to keep you busy for a little while, even after you've far out leveled it. Don't sign up if not willing to deal with the uphill push.

If you think this is bad, the books is where most end their ARR relic grind. It is without question the most time consuming part of the quest, and there really isn't anything you can do to make it go faster. The duties that can be done unsynced or with a squadron are outweighed by the duties that are simply too much trouble to do so.

The ARR relics are also the best they've come out with aesthetically, and it is bummer that HW/SB released jobs cannot benefit.