Is +5 Farming Worth It? Situationally dependant.

[Vileynye]

There’s a lot of debate about whether running missions at +5 difficulty is better than sticking to +4. After some testing, I’ve concluded the answer isn’t a simple yes or no. It depends heavily on your clear time.

TL;DR:

+5 Farming is worth it, but only if you are not slowed down too much.

• If you're less than ~25% slower, you're making more influence per hour
• Experience will (almost) always be improved by +5
• If you have sitters +5 is almost always better
• If you're just farming for influence, +4 is more efficient unless your clear times are extremely fast. 

 

Here's the full breakdown:

Raw Reward Increases: +4 → +5

These were the rewards numbers with 3 players on the map:

+5 Minion 3,803 experience and 3,549 influence.
+5 Lieutenant 7,606 experience and 12,170 influence.
+5 Boss 22,819 experience and 38,032 influence.

 

+4 Minion 2,024 experience and 2,833 influence.
+4 Lieutenant 4,047 experience and 9,713 influence.
+4 Boss 12,142 experience and 30,355 influence.

XP Increase:
+4 → +5 gives +88% XP (1.88×)

Influence Increase:
+4 → +5 gives +25.3% Influence (1.253×)

XP jumps massively. Influence rises modestly.

Clear Time Matters More Than Anything Else

A reward multiplier is only good if the time doesn’t scale even harder. So the key question is: How much slower can +5 be before it becomes worse than +4?

Break-Even Analysis:

Break-even happens when: Time multiplier = Reward multiplier. So:

XP Break-Even Time:

1.88× slower allowed
You can take 88% longer and still break even for XP.

Influence Break-Even Time:
1.253× slower allowed
You can take 25.3% longer and still break even for influence.

Influence has the tighter window.

 

Real Example: 30-Minute Map Timer

Let’s say:
On +4, you finish with 10 minutes left on a 30-minute timer
 → Run time = 20 minutes

On +5, you finish with 5 minutes left on a 30-minute timer
 → Run time = 25 minutes

Extra Time Spent: 5 minutes

Percentage Slower: 25%

You're 25% slower, which is the break-even threshold. If you are farming solo, you are losing influence efficiency. However, if you have sitters, they're enjoying quite a bit more experience. In an 8-hour farming session you'll net nearly ~24 full runs on +4 whereas +5 only gets ~19. 

So when do I choose +5 over +4? 

 

• You want faster XP (you almost can’t lose on XP)
• Your build can handle the extra difficulty smoothly

+4 is better if:

 

• +5 slows you down by more than 25%
• You’re optimizing purely for influence/hour
• You prefer faster, smoother runs

 

[Glacier Peak]

Aren't rewards messed up right now for higher level enemies? Like a Level 54 and a Level 55 will give the same xp?

[lemming]

1 minute ago, Glacier Peak said:

Aren't rewards messed up right now for higher level enemies? Like a Level 54 and a Level 55 will give the same xp?

I checked my arcs and they all gave +25% at +5 vs +4.

 

I think the game supplied mobs haven't had their reward tables completely fixed.  Though the crash with Editing Groups needs fixing.  I just went thru each char individually to dblcheck they were at 100% xp at max.

[lemming]

Oh, I also don't really run my farms for speed.  Tend to do AFK at a plodding course.  It's not top notch income, but it supplies more than I need.

[Maelwys]

Also worth considering drops, as enemy level does not impact drop chances. Therefore if you're farming for cash (rather than for exp) it's very likely that lower level mobs will provide more efficient inf/hour.

 

AFK farming might see a benefit going higher... since if you're not watching the screen like a hawk and instead just throwing a fairly optimized toon into a new Asteroid map every 10mins, then the stream of enemy defeats can be more consistent as enemy mob density will drop a lot faster vs +3s than vs +4s.