So long -1

[lucifael]

... and thanks for the heroic moments.

Now that the difficulty meter has been extended upward, the lowest level of that meter is entirely gone.

I know that won't mean much to the fat cats with more bonuses than characters in their RP bio, or people who have the time and engagement to invest into groups, but for anyone who solos at low levels or only has time for a mission here or there, its a farewell to the chance to feel like a hero.

Just because -1 is now between 0 and +1, it doesn't mean lowbians can't do it. It just takes longer and instead of fighting a handful of foes, you fight one maybe two. It feels more like getting from class to class in high school than opposing villainy where it lives. Its a functional nerf to a playstyle that didn't have much to give in the first place.

Selecting 2 or more players for your solo run at -1 just creates clouds of +1 and +2 Ltn.s. I guess if you had it at 0, you would be getting AVs.

I don't know if it was intended that low levelers should feel more pain and less victory, but if someone had to be sacrificed, starting or leveling players just starting a character is certainly a choice.

I hope -1 can return so I can feel like I am doing something while on that long road to godhood.

Until then I guess I'll see if my energy blasting cosmic alien can take on those two mean 5th graders or if I lose my lunch money... again.

Edited Friday at 04:28 PM by lucifael

[Glacier Peak]

 

Set Adjust Level to -1, Team size to 1, Solo Bosses to No, and Solo AVs to EB. 

 

That's the easiest setting available when solo. If you want enemies to not scale when you invite other players, jump in the mission and scout all the floors/enemies, then invite teammates. Otherwise that is how it's always worked.

[lucifael]

1 hour ago, Glacier Peak said:

 

Set Adjust Level to -1, Team size to 1, Solo Bosses to No, and Solo AVs to EB. 

 

That's the easiest setting available when solo. If you want enemies to not scale when you invite other players, jump in the mission and scout all the floors/enemies, then invite teammates. Otherwise that is how it's always worked.

You must not use it. And that's fair. Perhaps not many people do.

The expectation is that the majority of mobs at -1 will con -1 to you with a 1 person party. 

That no longer happens. Now at -1, with a 1 person party, mobs will only ever con even with many being +1 or +2.  As additional players are added it scales up from there adding +3, bosses and elite bosses.

It is absolutely not the way it has always been.

Not prohibitive, certainly. Just a loss of that sense of heroic endeavor and a nerf to people who weren't jostling anything anyway. 

 

Edited Friday at 06:26 PM by lucifael

[Vanden]

See, this is what we call a Bug and should be Reported as such

Edited Friday at 06:32 PM by Vanden

[Glacier Peak]

21 minutes ago, Vanden said:

See, this is what we call a Bug and should be Reported as such

Seems like a bug to me and not an intentional change. Bug report!

[Lockely]

I wonder if this is an unintended change to the MM pet update to ensure they're finally even con to the MM.

[Glacier Peak]

Here's the bug report!

Edited Friday at 07:23 PM by Glacier Peak

[Captain Fabulous]

1 hour ago, lucifael said:

You must not use it. And that's fair. Perhaps not many people do.

The expectation is that the majority of mobs at -1 will con -1 to you with a 1 person party. 

That no longer happens. Now at -1, with a 1 person party, mobs will only ever con even with many being +1 or +2.  As additional players are added it scales up from there adding +3, bosses and elite bosses.

It is absolutely not the way it has always been.

Not prohibitive, certainly. Just a loss of that sense of heroic endeavor and a nerf to people who weren't jostling anything anyway. 

 

I was doing some Oro missions last night at -1x1 and critter levels were as expected. 🤷‍♂️

[lucifael]

1 minute ago, Captain Fabulous said:

I was doing some Oro missions last night at -1x1 and critter levels were as expected. 🤷‍♂️

That hasn't been my experience. All -1x1 mission are full of even con mobs with whole groups at +1 and some groups at +1 and a +2 thrown in.

[Bill Z Bubba]

42 minutes ago, lucifael said:

That hasn't been my experience. All -1x1 mission are full of even con mobs with whole groups at +1 and some groups at +1 and a +2 thrown in.

 

As said by others, obviously a bug. It'll get fixed. Same goes for the new difficulty reward tables being broken. That, too, will get fixed. Someone else brought up that we shouldn't ever get higher or lower critters than our difficulty is set for, and I agree. If I'm running at +4 at level 50, I should see nothing but level 54 critters. But I was getting level 58s that were giving lvl 54 rewards when testing +7 in DA. I have faith that it'll get worked out. In the meantime, I'll play as I played before this latest patch.

I know that you can't right now, I understand that, but I do hope you check the next patch notes to see if this particular issue has been resolved for you and that you'll come back.

[Snarky]

3 hours ago, lucifael said:

You must not use it. And that's fair. Perhaps not many people do.

The expectation is that the majority of mobs at -1 will con -1 to you with a 1 person party. 

That no longer happens. Now at -1, with a 1 person party, mobs will only ever con even with many being +1 or +2.  As additional players are added it scales up from there adding +3, bosses and elite bosses.

It is absolutely not the way it has always been.

Not prohibitive, certainly. Just a loss of that sense of heroic endeavor and a nerf to people who weren't jostling anything anyway. 

 

i believe you.  i have not tested it, but i take your word.

 

i recently did all missions from all contacts that could not be done at 50.  i was set -1.  the goal was to do it, not climb a mountain using my teeth.  it irritates me that they have removed this option.  

 

on a positive note 99% of the shit on this planet irritates me.  so, i am unmoved.

[Jacke]

Notoriety set to -1 not giving mobs who are Levels -1 and 0, but 0 and +1, is a bug and has been reported.  It was missed during both Closed Beta and Open Beta.

 

It will be fixed.

 

 

[GM Crumpet]

As people have said, it's high on the priority list for fixing. It's a bug that got missed on testing. Sadly that happens with a few things as live testing is always going to throw up things that closed and open beta miss. Mostly because people are testing the new shiny stuff rather than boring old tweaks.

 

All the closed testing in the world is no substitute for players who go "What happens if I do this, press this then twist that" and the devs go "WHY???? Why would you do that????" 😛 

[Neiska]

12 minutes ago, GM Crumpet said:

As people have said, it's high on the priority list for fixing. It's a bug that got missed on testing. Sadly that happens with a few things as live testing is always going to throw up things that closed and open beta miss. Mostly because people are testing the new shiny stuff rather than boring old tweaks.

 

All the closed testing in the world is no substitute for players who go "What happens if I do this, press this then twist that" and the devs go "WHY???? Why would you do that????" 😛 

 

I present a live image from the Beta Testing Servers - 

 

[lucifael]

I can definitely believe that it is on track to being fixed, and remain thankful for the endless efforts of devs and testers catching these things.

[srmalloy]

23 hours ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

If I'm running at +4 at level 50, I should see nothing but level 54 critters.

By the mission spawn algorithm, you'll see level 53-55 critters. It's always been ±1 to the difficulty-adjusted mission level.

[tidge]

This sounds like a bug. I'm guessing the -1 setting is supposed to alter every players' levels  by minus one in the mission?

[Hedgefund]

No, difficulty setting affects mob level, not player level.  If a player (and mission) is level 30 and set to -1 they should see 29 and 30 level enemies.  The player will be 30 and sidekicks will be 29 just as for any difficulty level.

 

 

[Jacke]

1 hour ago, srmalloy said:

By the mission spawn algorithm, you'll see level 53-55 critters. It's always been ±1 to the difficulty-adjusted mission level.

 

I believe its only on-Level and +1 spawns at most.  Task Forces are special because some are set to the highest Level they can run at.

 

 

[tidge]

2 hours ago, Hedgefund said:

No, difficulty setting affects mob level, not player level.  If a player (and mission) is level 30 and set to -1 they should see 29 and 30 level enemies.  The player will be 30 and sidekicks will be 29 just as for any difficulty level.

 

That's Numberwang!

[Snarky]

On 11/28/2025 at 4:36 PM, GM Crumpet said:

As people have said, it's high on the priority list for fixing. It's a bug that got missed on testing. Sadly that happens with a few things as live testing is always going to throw up things that closed and open beta miss. Mostly because people are testing the new shiny stuff rather than boring old tweaks.

 

All the closed testing in the world is no substitute for players who go "What happens if I do this, press this then twist that" and the devs go "WHY???? Why would you do that????" 😛 

[Skyhawke]

1 hour ago, Snarky said:

 

 

 

[Scarlet Shocker]

On 11/29/2025 at 12:36 AM, GM Crumpet said:

As people have said, it's high on the priority list for fixing. It's a bug that got missed on testing. Sadly that happens with a few things as live testing is always going to throw up things that closed and open beta miss. Mostly because people are testing the new shiny stuff rather than boring old tweaks.

 

All the closed testing in the world is no substitute for players who go "What happens if I do this, press this then twist that" and the devs go "WHY???? Why would you do that????" 😛 

 

I had a wife like that once too. Probably explains why I'm divorced! 

[Snarky]

51 minutes ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

 

I had a wife like that once too. Probably explains why I'm divorced! 

yeah, it's bad when they start pressing and twisting.

[Scarlet Shocker]

33 minutes ago, Snarky said:

yeah, it's bad when they start pressing and twisting.

 

well I do like a nice ironed shirt, to be fair, but ancient dances are not really my bag