page 3 [FOCUSED FEEDBACK] New Expanded +5 & Incarnate +6/+7 Difficulty Options

[Uncle Shags]

9 hours ago, Cobalt Arachne said:

The difficulty increase from a difference in Level is not trivial.

 

Man, you're not kidding... 

 

I absolutely LOVE it.  

 

People are going to get demolished.

 

I've been tinkering around with a couple different tankers on +5 radios.  It's not easy!  Taking on two groups of Arachnos, Carnies, or CoT is very risky!  They'll getcha!

 

All of a sudden 90% resists, soft capped defense, 13 points of status protection, etc might not be enough.  Immortality at +4 is a faceplant at +5 if you're not careful.  

 

I love the new challenge.  I've had to go back to the drawing board on my builds to try to keep up.  Theory crafting again.  Hard!

 

Thank you!  

[Troo]

11 hours ago, Cobalt Arachne said:

The difficulty increase from a difference in Level is not trivial.

 

I appreciate what you are saying & the effort that goes into things.

 

11 hours ago, Cobalt Arachne said:

Another player having more Inf means literally nothing to your gaming experience unless they plan to give it to you.

 

[Uncle Shags]

On 11/10/2025 at 5:05 PM, The Curator said:

Mission modifiers can sometimes swing this to spawn to +1s!

 

I hate to sound like a fanboi, but again, this is great!  It adds an additional element of randomness and challenge that keeps things spicy.

 

"Careful boys! I see a +6 boss in there..."

[Perfect Square]

First off, I agree with Uncle Shags, this is a great change and I'm enjoying the new settings. 

I also believe that the fact that, currently, +x settings can produce +x larger spawns or +x+1 smaller spawns is an intended and desired feature and should be kept as is. I like the fact that every enemy on a map does not spawn at a specific level and size and there is some variety.

 

Related to that, I found one inconsistency:

On 11/10/2025 at 5:05 PM, The Curator said:

---

• Enemy groups that spawned at Level 54 have had their level range extended up to Level 55.
  • Mission modifiers can sometimes swing this to spawn to +1s!

 

As expected, if a player is level 50 running +5 missions, both 55s and 56s now spawn in regular content. I was concerned since the patch note says "up to Level 55."

 

 

However, on Incarnate content, +7 ONLY produces 57s, no 58s as I would expect to be consistent with other difficulty levels.

 

Currently (on live), there is not much difference between 50+3x8 and 50+4x8 since many of the +3 spawns are 54s but NONE of the +4 spawns are 55 (since 54 was cap previously). I appreciate that that inconsistency has been resolved with the update on regular content, but believe it should be extended to incarnate content as well. Can we get 58s when on +7? Otherwise, there is really not much difference between +6 and +7 with large teams.

[Cobalt Arachne]

11 hours ago, Troo said:

I appreciate what you are saying & the effort that goes into things.

 

The price on that specific Enhancement is because wealthy min/maxers want to squeeze the ABSOLUTE most out of their build, and that specific one lets them get a LITTLE more % out of a slot.

 

Let's not pretend like that Enhancement is a normal necessity for anybody to play this game. 

 

You can run a pair of 50+5 generic Accuracy and Recharge IOs in two slots to get very comparable performance.

 

So no, others having the money to buy fancy special Enhancements does not significantly impact anybody's gameplay experience. You can use a cheap very easily obtainable alternative for ~90% strength.

 

Also another good example of "tax the rich", they want that Enhancement badly, and it can't be obtained doing Architect Entertainment farms, so of course it became an Influence dump luxury purchase. 

[Bionic_Flea]

11 hours ago, Troo said:

I appreciate what you are saying & the effort that goes into things.

 

Or you can Speed run a few no-star Aeons for a chance to win the D-sync lottery, then slot it or sell it to pay for your entire build.

[lemming]

12 minutes ago, Bionic_Flea said:

Or you can Speed run a few no-star Aeons for a chance to win the D-sync lottery, then slot it or sell it to pay for your entire build.

They've definitely dropped in price.  I sold my first couple for just shy of a billion, but with how I spend, I wasn't needing to sell the others.   I've used the subsequent drops in a couple builds at 53 and yea, it's slightly better, but not 500m better.

[WindDemon21]

1 hour ago, Cobalt Arachne said:

The price on that specific Enhancement is because wealthy min/maxers want to squeeze the ABSOLUTE most out of their build, and that specific one lets them get a LITTLE more % out of a slot.

 

Let's not pretend like that Enhancement is a normal necessity for anybody to play this game. 

 

You can run a pair of 50+5 generic Accuracy and Recharge IOs in two slots to get very comparable performance.

 

So no, others having the money to buy fancy special Enhancements does not significantly impact anybody's gameplay experience. You can use a cheap very easily obtainable alternative for ~90% strength.

 

Also another good example of "tax the rich", they want that Enhancement badly, and it can't be obtained doing Architect Entertainment farms, so of course it became an Influence dump luxury purchase. 

Now if we could just FINALLY get an acc/end/rech, acc/end and acc/dam/end, acc/mez/end, hami's i'd be thrilled. Would be wonderful if hami's pooled in the same level on AH like IO's do so you can use them before 50 as well, esp the mez ones for powers like aura of insanity where it's really key. Universal Mez IO sets like universal damage would also be great to add.

[Faultline]

5 hours ago, Perfect Square said:

However, on Incarnate content, +7 ONLY produces 57s, no 58s as I would expect to be consistent with other difficulty levels.

[...] Can we get 58s when on +7?

 

This is news to me and I have no idea why this would be happening. The Incarnate critters were expanded to level 60. Further investigation needed.

[Championess]

3 hours ago, Cobalt Arachne said:

The price on that specific Enhancement is because wealthy min/maxers want to squeeze the ABSOLUTE most out of their build, and that specific one lets them get a LITTLE more % out of a slot.

 

This is my fault I made a new Kin those last 3 purchases were all me.  Sorry to set some sort of example for whatever point they were trying to make.

 

I'm not rich perse I've just been playing since the first month HC was back.  Talk about poor, not having enough to perma my first dom even at 50, so sad, I had to rely on the ol' Kin gibme perma method.

 

As far as taxes I liquidated 2 billion worth of Prisms which the AH took their cut then the people I bought those from got taxed.  I usually spread money around to new people for later tax writeoffs but this week I had to give those panhandlers my thoughts and prayers instead.  😋

 

For the tax the rich crowd I'd offer just play your 50s money starts snowballing after while especially now with +7s.

Edited 14 hours ago by Championess

[Seed22]

So as I understand it +5,6 etc is just stat increases right?

 

Im not sure if I commented in CB on it but I believe I said I was indifferent towards the idea? While it doesnt make the mobs more difficult other than the usual "hey they have higher stats" kind of way, it at least means more inf/XP for...not much needing to really be changed in team comp other than maybe dont have half the team be lowbies. 

 

Which I think was intended. Just bringing back old +4. 

[Troo]

7 hours ago, Cobalt Arachne said:

The price on that specific Enhancement is because wealthy min/maxers want to squeeze the ABSOLUTE most out of their build, and that specific one lets them get a LITTLE more % out of a slot.

 

Let's not pretend like that Enhancement is a normal necessity for anybody to play this game. 

 

umm... I wasn't pretending. While I can afford whatever I want, not everybody can. 

Expensive loot isn't necessary, though it can surely be nice to have. Expensive items might also help to participate in expanded difficulty levels.

But hey - if your opinion is that folks who aren't "wealthy min/maxers" don't need nice stuff, okay.

I am surprised though. I didn't guess you for one that looked down on some players.

 

I could paraphrase your response as a Mr. Burns like: "suckit-less-thans you'll make due with 90% effectiveness". 

 

I'm guessing you didn't mean it that way. But, maybe you did.

 

 

You're statement below is not troo. 

Situations where the rich get richer can definitely effect other players due to how the economy works.

I gave ONE example, we could show many more, and we could talk about the market from live.

Scarcity + some with outsized wealth = less opportunity for many

 

On 11/13/2025 at 10:23 AM, Cobalt Arachne said:

Another player having more Inf means literally nothing to your gaming experience unless they plan to give it to you.

 

While my intention is not to dress down a developer who volunteers their time and has contributed much to Homecoming. A glib comment by a blue name looking down on some players might need some clarification. 

 

{I am happy to edit this reply with the others in this exchange, but moderate as y'all see fit. I feel this is very relevant if new higher difficulty = higher rewards}

Edited 11 hours ago by Troo

[Troo]

11 hours ago, Uncle Shags said:

"Careful boys! I see a +6 boss in there..."

 

Flavor that is good for the game.

[Championess]

1 hour ago, Troo said:

 

umm... I wasn't pretending. While I can afford whatever I want, not everybody can. 

Expensive loot isn't necessary, though it can surely be nice to have. Expensive items might also help to participate in expanded difficulty levels.

But hey - if your opinion is that folks who aren't "wealthy min/maxers" don't need nice stuff, okay.

I am surprised though. I didn't guess you for one that looked down on some players.

 

I could paraphrase your response as a Mr. Burns like: "suckit-less-thans you'll make due with 90% effectiveness". 

 

I'm guessing you didn't mean it that way. But, maybe you did.

 

 

You're statement below is not troo. 

Situations where the rich get richer can definitely effect other players due to how the economy works.

I gave ONE example, we could show many more, and we could talk about the market from live.

Scarcity + some with outsized wealth = less opportunity for many

 

 

While my intention is not to dress down a developer who volunteers their time and has contributed much to Homecoming. A glib comment by a blue name looking down on some players might need some clarification. 

 

{I am happy to edit this reply with the others in this exchange, but moderate as y'all see fit. I feel this is very relevant if new higher difficulty = higher rewards}

 

I've been doing the harder content for a long time now.  No ones being gatekept because they don't have provocations slotted.  Player skill and experince matter, AT and powerset matter, procs in right places and global bonuses matter, listening and teamwork matters.

 

The biggest thing checked for by leads are accolades and Incarnates.  If you took the time to do those you'll be welcome on most runs on any budget build.

Edited 10 hours ago by Championess

[Troo]

6 hours ago, Championess said:

No ones being gatekept

 

Not what I said at all. 

 

6 hours ago, Championess said:

The biggest thing checked for by leads are accolades and Incarnates.  If you took the time to do those you'll be welcome on most runs on any budget build.

 

This is part of what makes it a great community.