Mission based on the classic "Game of Death" plot

[(NSW)Probably_Asleep]

History
Okay so back in the day there was a production called Game of Death by Bruce Lee (who tragically died before he could finish it, though someone did actually take the footage and make their interpretation with stand-ins later on). The plot has gone on to inspire many other works, including in video games.

What plot, you ask? Well...

• There exists a tower of progressively more difficult challenges on each ascending floor
• The rule of the tower is that only skill is allowed, no cheap weapons
• An ex-martial arts master is forced to ascend the tower for the sake of saving his younger siblings
• We never got to hear what the top of the tower was supposed to have

Sound familiar? I'm sure you've played games with rooms of progressive difficulty, usually in the form of a tower going up or a multi-story basement going down. And I think it's time for Warframe to get that treatment!

Warframe Adaptation
Your character must ascend a tower ran by some person or organization that enjoys watching fights. (I'm open to a more sinister motivation, but often times that's difficult plot-wise because if someone really wanted to kill you then they wouldn't spread their forces out into easily digestible smaller fights; a "game" on the other hand gives the antagonist a motivation to make less sensible decisions) This is how I imagine it working:

• You can bring whatever Warframe you want, but all Mods must be checked at the door. (They can't remove your Archon Shards though)
• You start with no weapons, sort of like when you get captured by a Zanuka hunter and have to run a Recovery Mission
• Using stealth, agility, and your wits, you defeat the enemies on floor 1
• Unlike normal missions, the enemies drop their weapons when you kill them, along with a unique currency
• Before ascending to floor 2, you notice an unusual Arsenal Console
  • The console takes that unique currency and lets you buy fully ranked Mods
  • You can also store and swap the weapons you've collected
• Each floor has stronger and stronger enemies, but they also drop more powerful weapons and more valuable purses of the unique currency
• The reward for making it to the top could be anything really, but here are my suggestions:
  • Unlocking a new Focus School (perhaps the "Umbra" Focus School?) that increases Operator Agility and Mobility so your Operator can more move like a Warframe
  • Unique Modular Weapon parts
  • An Orbiter Segment that makes working with Archon Shards easier (no Bile cost to remove, can link them to Loadouts, etc.)

And that's pretty much it! The basic concept is just that you start with nothing and accumulate more as your ascend, having to make tough decisions on how you spend your limited resources.

 

I'll go ahead and plug another idea while I'm at it, this could be a good mission to stick in a new area like Ganymede:

[Pakaku]

Sounds like what we already have in ESO and the Circuit, except lack of weapon choice.

[quxier]

Here is few problem that are similar to Circuit:

 

Frame:

So you need to kill many stronger enemies. So what frame you pick? Armor strip, high DPS and some others. You pick good frame then (after getting some mods) you will just melt enemies. You pick wrong? You either will have problems or just don't do anything (and fail).

 

Weapons:

Stronger weapons? Is Kuva nukor dealing 100 damage weaker than Lex doing 200? Both would do same damage to enemies that are close (with lex you need to aim-shoot more). Kuva nukor would deal 100 to initial target and 50 to nearby 2 enemies. Lex on other hand would deal 200 to 1 enemy.

My point is that some weapons are more suited to certain situations. In this case AoE weapons would be better probably.

 

If the enemies would be smarter or just something else than just more EHP then it would be fine. You would pick e.g. faster frame to catch escaping targets. You would pick tanky frame for mission with enemies that deals damage. So on and so forth.

[(NSW)Probably_Asleep]

4 hours ago, Pakaku said:

Sounds like what we already have in ESO and the Circuit, except lack of weapon choice.

Pakaku!

I thought of that, and I believe this is different in several crucial ways. For starters, ESO and Circuit's scaling difficulty is just leveling. For the Tower though I'm imagining something a little more curated. The first floor enemies have to be weak enough for unarmed combat, while the second floor will have enemies susceptible to basic weapons sporting only one, maybe two Mods.

As you accumulate more Weapons and Mods, the variety and strength of enemies can increase a lot more, but it would have to be a calculated, designed progression of difficulty. The ESO and Circuit is a crude system, in my opinion. It's just a formulaic cycle with pseudo-variety through RNG environments and enemies. The Tower on the other hand should feel more like a puzzle. Do you save your currency up, enduring the next floor so you can buy a better mod? Or do you spend what you have now because you just barely got through this floor? Those sorts of decisions are what I personally find the most thrilling.

 

1 hour ago, quxier said:

Here is few problem that are similar to Circuit:

Frame:
So you need to kill many stronger enemies. So what frame you pick? Armor strip, high DPS and some others. You pick good frame then (after getting some mods) you will just melt enemies. You pick wrong? You either will have problems or just don't do anything (and fail).

Weapons:
Stronger weapons? Is Kuva nukor dealing 100 damage weaker than Lex doing 200? Both would do same damage to enemies that are close (with lex you need to aim-shoot more). Kuva nukor would deal 100 to initial target and 50 to nearby 2 enemies. Lex on other hand would deal 200 to 1 enemy.
My point is that some weapons are more suited to certain situations. In this case AoE weapons would be better probably.
If the enemies would be smarter or just something else than just more EHP then it would be fine. You would pick e.g. faster frame to catch escaping targets. You would pick tanky frame for mission with enemies that deals damage. So on and so forth.

And quxier!? This is a first that I get a response from both of you back to back and on the same thread!

Frame:
It's your choice, but remember you're going in there with zero mods. I feel like a lot of the most popular frames are seen through the lens of Mod freedom. When you can Mod your Ability stats to 200%+ on things like Strength, Range, or Duration, then a lot of content becomes trivial. I can say I'm also guilty of this! Netracells have that "Difficulty: Very High" warning, and I was expecting it to deliver, but my Mag Prime was so well equipped by then that she could solo it like it was an Extermination Mission on the normal Star Chart. I actually did make a special build, but it was actually just to put Perspicacity on. There's always this one PC with a glare behind it that makes it very difficult to see the monitor clearly. (LOL actually now that I think about it, the most difficult part of that game mode was the lighting! Power creep has really gotten out of hand...)

Warframe has a built in energy economy system that works pretty well late game, but I remember the early days of my journey where I had to be more strategic with what abilities I casted. When four energy orbs get used for just one ability, then you get a little more choosy. But I'm not complaining! I loved the early game! I had to rely on ground-slams for CC, rolls and cover for DR, and headshots for my DPS. Abilities were a last resort, and usually an indication that I let my guard down. While I do enjoy the endgame as well, being able to walk into brand new "Very High" difficulty content and finger-snap enemies out of existence, I'll never forget the thrill of a fair fight, and I'd love to experience that again. (I guess I could just downgrade my builds... but that would feel like I'm betraying Mag; the game mode itself has to impose a handicap on her)

Weapons:
I'm reading this as more of a support for my idea than an argument against it. As I was saying to Pakaku, I'd like the tower to feel like a puzzle, and I totally agree that what weapons are available when would be a vital piece to that puzzle. Wouldn't it be cool, as an example, if you actually had to care about elemental weaknesses? I'm still on the fence between RNG and Static content, because while I think making a carefully curated experience would be easier with Static Content, RNG would allow for some unexpected problems to solve. Maybe something like floors 1-5 are Grineer, 6-10 are Corpus, 11-15 are Infested, and so on (And every 5th floor has a "sub boss" of sorts). Then you could know that, starting floor 6, it would be better to ditch your Corrosive weapons and take some Toxic or Magnetic ones. But then what if you're at floor 5, and the only toxic weapon you could have got your hands on was at floor 2? Now you have to spend your currency to get a toxin mod, or just try to make do, hoping you can get something after the 6th floor.

 

Quote

(General response)

I can see what you're both saying about Circuit. I think maybe DE wanted Circuit to feel this way. Starting back at the beginning, having to build your way back up. But I don't think it hit the mark, and I blame the implementation over the concept. The typical solution that DE often comes up with is to just throw more enemies, more levels, and more handicaps at you until it seems difficult enough to feel new. (With a little touch of glitches that always seem to work in the enemies' favor) And I of course know why they would do that.

"Level Design" is like conducting an orchestra. You need to be aware of each and every piece of the performance, and after all that work the audience just walks out and forgets about it. For a Live Service game, they need people to come back, so it makes perfect sense to artificially inflate content with immersion-breaking disadvantages and mix-and-match content generation. They get more play hours out of all of us from Circuit, but it took more hours from them to make the Duviri Quest. Curated, carefully designed content just doesn't have a good return on investment.

But if you're reading this, DE, I'd like you to think of Eidolons. There you had a challenge that was predictable, finite, and leaning more heavily on design than procedural generation. Despite that, players kept playing it! First of course is that it gave great rewards. Secondly though, a predictable, well-designed fight can be fun to repeatedly play! I remember failing miserably at my first Eidolon Hunt. I had the standard Amp, an unmodded Necramech, and zero arcanes on my Warframe. I wasn't even trying to capture the Teralyst! I just wanted to defeat it, but I was blasting that thing all night and had it down to the final push before the sun came up. It was embarrassing. But I redesigned my strategy, upgraded my gear, and went again when night rolled around to finally defeat it. After getting comfortable and refining the strategy, I got to a point where I could defeat two Teralysts per night, so I started going after the Gantulyst. That was a new challenge, and after a while I overcame that and set my sights on the Hydrolyst. And after much effort and skill building, I got to the point where I could comfortably defeat all three. I could have stopped there! I had what I needed to eventually get all the Arcanes and drops. But I wanted to push myself more, and now I can defeat 2 sets per night. (I'm stopping there, I feel good about myself being able to do 2x3)

My point is that the content never changed, the RNG for Eidolon hunts is minimal. And that lack of RNG lets us refine our builds and tactics. We can measure our progress and see our growth. That's the kind of feeling I want to have in the Tower. I don't want an "Endless Mission." I don't want artificial difficulty. I want a race that I can do a little better in each time and eventually look back and say: "Wow, I struggled to even do it once at the beginning, but now I can blitz through it!"

Edited February 15 by (NSW)Probably_Asleep
I can forgive myself a few typos, but this was just too much

[quxier]

  

14 hours ago, (NSW)Probably_Asleep said:

And quxier!?

The feeling when you scream my (nick)name is nice. You seams to have big positivity.

14 hours ago, (NSW)Probably_Asleep said:

Perspicacity on.

You can use Ciphers (for now!)

14 hours ago, (NSW)Probably_Asleep said:

t's your choice, but remember you're going in there with zero mods. I feel like a lot of the most popular frames are seen through the lens of Mod freedom. When you can Mod your Ability stats to 200%+ on things like Strength, Range, or Duration, then a lot of content becomes trivial.

But e.g. Styanax armor strip has 50% at base. That's 2 cast costing 50 whole. While not making it trivial it still plays some role in picking frames

14 hours ago, (NSW)Probably_Asleep said:

Warframe has a built in energy economy system that works pretty well late game, but I remember the early days of my journey where I had to be more strategic with what abilities I casted. When four energy orbs get used for just one ability, then you get a little more choosy. But I'm not complaining! I loved the early game! I had to rely on ground-slams for CC, rolls and cover for DR, and headshots for my DPS. Abilities were a last resort, and usually an indication that I let my guard down. While I do enjoy the endgame as well, being able to walk into brand new "Very High" difficulty content and finger-snap enemies out of existence, I'll never forget the thrill of a fair fight, and I'd love to experience that again. (I guess I could just downgrade my builds... but that would feel like I'm betraying Mag; the game mode itself has to impose a handicap on her)

You know what I'm doing in Circuit after picking frame/guns/melee? Pick energy restore. Maybe few Decrees and you are changing from useless to spamy frame.

IN SP Circuit, there are few things I pick. There is barely any challenge. You just make things more braindead. I "enjoyed" challenge in Grendel mission (at least some part) but doing it again and again is just boring for me.

14 hours ago, (NSW)Probably_Asleep said:

Weapons:
I'm reading this as more of a support for my idea than an argument against it. As I was saying to Pakaku, I'd like the tower to feel like a puzzle, and I totally agree that what weapons are available when would be a vital piece to that puzzle. Wouldn't it be cool, as an example, if you actually had to care about elemental weaknesses?

So you pick e.g. Corrosive, slap 2 corrosive shards so you armor strip. Problem solved.

14 hours ago, (NSW)Probably_Asleep said:

I'm still on the fence between RNG and Static content, because while I think making a carefully curated experience would be easier with Static Content, RNG would allow for some unexpected problems to solve.

You can go with RNG but you cannot just "slap" RNG and expect it works. Circuit is example of this (how RNG doesn't bring any meaningful choices).

14 hours ago, (NSW)Probably_Asleep said:

Then you could know that, starting floor 6, it would be better to ditch your Corrosive weapons and take some Toxic or Magnetic ones. But then what if you're at floor 5, and the only toxic weapon you could have got your hands on was at floor 2? Now you have to spend your currency to get a toxin mod, or just try to make do, hoping you can get something after the 6th floor.

I hate such stuff, especially in WF. You have bounties. What I do having most gear? Pick only one that's "works good for certain stage or in general". There is no me thinking "oh this mission needs X, this mission needs Y". No, just slap "the best" thing. Circuit having more RNG in terms of gear makes me just "pick the best FROM SELECTION". The selection is not good? Well, try again later.

14 hours ago, (NSW)Probably_Asleep said:

"Level Design" is like conducting an orchestra. You need to be aware of each and every piece of the performance, and after all that work the audience just walks out and forgets about it. For a Live Service game, they need people to come back, so it makes perfect sense to artificially inflate content with immersion-breaking disadvantages and mix-and-match content generation. They get more play hours out of all of us from Circuit, but it took more hours from them to make the Duviri Quest. Curated, carefully designed content just doesn't have a good return on investment.

Duviri quest is made to be done once. In my experience (if they do it right, or at least 'good enough') quest makes us take much more time "outside". It's free advert. People talk about it (how good/interesting it is) and make potentially other people into the game. Such one time things plays important role as well. However it depends on game itself.

You say that they need to artificially inflate content. Sure, some RNG small "time gate" would be fine. However PCG and other things are just a tools. They can be used to artificially over inflate something. However they can be used to make our experience more interesting. They get more "our time in game" with "less of their time spent making game". Sure. However you have to think about other aspect. How "fun" is that "our time"? How meaningful that time is. And probably other question. So you have to spend 25 minutes in e.g. Mirror defense in Whispers update? What you get? Sometimes mod sometimes nothing. You have to spent at least ~25 minutes. You spent less then you time is "wasted" because you don't get reward. Is it fun? Maybe for some. However repeating same stuff again and again will make that activity worse and worse, unless you have intrinsic rewards tied into it. Mirror defense (whispers), Circuit and other missions have that dangling extristic reward (arcanes at 5/10 rank, mod chance at 25 minute etc). Mission could be fun but forcing us to spend so much time and giving us extrinsic rewards makes it worse for people that enjoyed it in the first place and won't sustain it enough for people that wanted rewards. Everything has to be dosed in right amount.

14 hours ago, (NSW)Probably_Asleep said:

But if you're reading this, DE, I'd like you to think of Eidolons. There you had a challenge that was predictable, finite, and leaning more heavily on design than procedural generation. Despite that, players kept playing it! First of course is that it gave great rewards.

Of course, you gave players rewards that are rare and time gated. Of course it will bring some people to play it. Havign 1 maxed Energize would allow you to buy 6-7 frames from the market.

In addition it has other rewards like resources to focus, amps and syndicate.

14 hours ago, (NSW)Probably_Asleep said:

Secondly though, a predictable, well-designed fight can be fun to repeatedly play! I remember failing miserably at my first Eidolon Hunt. I had the standard Amp, an unmodded Necramech, and zero arcanes on my Warframe. I wasn't even trying to capture the Teralyst! I just wanted to defeat it, but I was blasting that thing all night and had it down to the final push before the sun came up. It was embarrassing. But I redesigned my strategy, upgraded my gear, and went again when night rolled around to finally defeat it. After getting comfortable and refining the strategy, I got to a point where I could defeat two Teralysts per night, so I started going after the Gantulyst. That was a new challenge, and after a while I overcame that and set my sights on the Hydrolyst. And after much effort and skill building, I got to the point where I could comfortably defeat all three. I could have stopped there! I had what I needed to eventually get all the Arcanes and drops. But I wanted to push myself more, and now I can defeat 2 sets per night. (I'm stopping there, I feel good about myself being able to do 2x3)

Challenging our self is some of us like. I don't like Eidolons in particular (I've not done any solo, only in team). However Angels or Duviri combat made me improve myself.

14 hours ago, (NSW)Probably_Asleep said:

My point is that the content never changed, the RNG for Eidolon hunts is minimal. And that lack of RNG lets us refine our builds and tactics. We can measure our progress and see our growth. That's the kind of feeling I want to have in the Tower. I don't want an "Endless Mission." I don't want artificial difficulty.

The thing with Eidolons or Angels is that it lets you pick your gear and test it. It's especially the case with Angels. You pick something, go to mission and see it works. You immediately see something doesn't work. You can change it immediately and just rerun mission. Your progression is not tied to you spend X time in that node. Sure, you have to grind/farm yourself to have any tools.

14 hours ago, (NSW)Probably_Asleep said:

I want a race that I can do a little better in each time and eventually look back and say: "Wow, I struggled to even do it once at the beginning, but now I can blitz through it!"

The thing with your challenge is that it's just mere "I've stayed long enough so I'm better". Sure there will be some nuances but those will be quickly overcome. Not sure about others but I'm past that "oh, I have bigger number, I'm better" kind of thing.

Edited February 15 by quxier
scream my name!

[(NSW)Probably_Asleep]

6 hours ago, quxier said:

The feeling when you scream my (nick)name is nice. You seams to have big positivity.

That I do, quxier! That. I. Do. (Side note: How do I pronounce your username? I say "Quicksy-ER" but is is actually "Qu'Zee-er" or something else?)

6 hours ago, quxier said:

You can use Ciphers (for now!)

I have this OCD-esque thing about using finite resources in video games. I always end up saving my potions and other consumables, because I want to save them for "when I really need it." (And of course that time never comes, so I get to the end of the game with an inventory full of consumables)

6 hours ago, quxier said:

But e.g. Styanax armor strip has 50% at base. That's 2 cast costing 50 whole. While not making it trivial it still plays some role in picking frames

True, but if there are, say, 20 enemies in the room (I don't know what the drop rate is but...) let's then say that only 10% drop energy orbs, so you end up only having enough for one armor strip. And that's only after you defeated everyone, so you'd be taking that energy on to the next floor with a decision: Use it on these mobs? Or save it for the subboss a few floors ahead?

And you're totally right, I'm sure some frames will be preferred over others. Look at the Eidolon hunts as an example. As players have optimized the routine, Volt has become the most popular frame to play. I can't say for certain which Warframe would be the most popular for a "start with nothing" game mode, but I'm sure there will be favorites and YouTube tutorials on it.

7 hours ago, quxier said:

You know what I'm doing in Circuit after picking frame/guns/melee? Pick energy restore. Maybe few Decrees and you are changing from useless to spamy frame.

IN SP Circuit, there are few things I pick. There is barely any challenge. You just make things more braindead. I "enjoyed" challenge in Grendel mission (at least some part) but doing it again and again is just boring for me.

Yeah for me I have Zenurik and 160% efficiency (oh and my inventory guarantees I always get Mag Prime), so I go for Decrees that increase DPS on my primary usually. I agree that once you get used to something then the fun wears off. But I do enjoy getting to that point. I like seeing myself get better than before.

7 hours ago, quxier said:

So you pick e.g. Corrosive, slap 2 corrosive shards so you armor strip. Problem solved.

Not a bad tac, but again then you'd be spending shard slots on armor which will only benefit you against a fraction of the enemies you'll encounter. That's not necessarily the wrong choice, but it is a tradeoff that you'll have to consider.

7 hours ago, quxier said:

You can go with RNG but you cannot just "slap" RNG and expect it works. Circuit is example of this (how RNG doesn't bring any meaningful choices).

Completely agreed

7 hours ago, quxier said:

I hate such stuff, especially in WF. You have bounties. What I do having most gear? Pick only one that's "works good for certain stage or in general". There is no me thinking "oh this mission needs X, this mission needs Y". No, just slap "the best" thing. Circuit having more RNG in terms of gear makes me just "pick the best FROM SELECTION". The selection is not good? Well, try again later.

I'm actually unsure if you're in the minority or majority here. I think most people like having a general purpose build (I do as well), but I also hear people complain when there is a "meta build" that invalidates everything else by comparison. I certainly think though that DE wants people to have to think before they start a mission. (And buy different frames and gear for each new area)

7 hours ago, quxier said:

Duviri quest is made to be done once. In my experience (if they do it right, or at least 'good enough') quest makes us take much more time "outside". It's free advert. People talk about it (how good/interesting it is) and make potentially other people into the game. Such one time things plays important role as well. However it depends on game itself.

You say that they need to artificially inflate content. Sure, some RNG small "time gate" would be fine. However PCG and other things are just a tools. They can be used to artificially over inflate something. However they can be used to make our experience more interesting. They get more "our time in game" with "less of their time spent making game". Sure. However you have to think about other aspect. How "fun" is that "our time"? How meaningful that time is. And probably other question. So you have to spend 25 minutes in e.g. Mirror defense in Whispers update? What you get? Sometimes mod sometimes nothing. You have to spent at least ~25 minutes. You spent less then you time is "wasted" because you don't get reward. Is it fun? Maybe for some. However repeating same stuff again and again will make that activity worse and worse, unless you have intrinsic rewards tied into it. Mirror defense (whispers), Circuit and other missions have that dangling extristic reward (arcanes at 5/10 rank, mod chance at 25 minute etc). Mission could be fun but forcing us to spend so much time and giving us extrinsic rewards makes it worse for people that enjoyed it in the first place and won't sustain it enough for people that wanted rewards. Everything has to be dosed in right amount.

That's a good point. The hours may come more from the grind-y content, but the promotional value of quests and storylines can't be understated. I agree with that.

I also agree that there are a lot of wrong ways to artificially inflate content. I'm not saying I like it or that it should be done; I just mean to say I can understand why they do it. The game industry is competitive, and the primary metrics they use for success is login count and average session times.

7 hours ago, quxier said:

Of course, you gave players rewards that are rare and time gated. Of course it will bring some people to play it. Havign 1 maxed Energize would allow you to buy 6-7 frames from the market.

In addition it has other rewards like resources to focus, amps and syndicate.

This explains why I'm doing Netracells. I really want a fully ranked Melee Duplicate arcane. (I've only got two...) The idea of melee-multishot is too good to pass up, even if it means having to hunt down that annoying little Netramite.

7 hours ago, quxier said:

Challenging our self is some of us like. I don't like Eidolons in particular (I've not done any solo, only in team). However Angels or Duviri combat made me improve myself.

You should get into solo'ing Eidolons! I really liked it. It's a unique experience. Obviously a squad will make it easier, but having to manage the Lures, the fight, the search, and the survival all by yourself is a blast. I love the little things like how many Lures you take with you at each phase, getting used to knowing where those lures are, and then of course choosing the right gear and strategy. (Just talking about it actually is making me want to check Warframe hub to see it if's nighttime on the plains... I'm on the clock for work though...)

7 hours ago, quxier said:

The thing with Eidolons or Angels is that it lets you pick your gear and test it. It's especially the case with Angels. You pick something, go to mission and see it works. You immediately see something doesn't work. You can change it immediately and just rerun mission. Your progression is not tied to you spend X time in that node. Sure, you have to grind/farm yourself to have any tools.

I agree with this. Being able to regroup and plan is one of my favorite things about Warframe and something I definitely don't like about Circuit.

7 hours ago, quxier said:

The thing with your challenge is that it's just mere "I've stayed long enough so I'm better". Sure there will be some nuances but those will be quickly overcome. Not sure about others but I'm past that "oh, I have bigger number, I'm better" kind of thing.

I must not have explained it very well if that's what it sounds like I was saying. My Tower idea is not an endless mission. It should have a final floor and a definite goal. I'm also for the idea of making the floors themselves predictable so you can strategize beforehand to be ready for them. I can't fully decide where RNG would be best. Drop rates seem like an obvious choice. If you get lucky on a floor and get a lot of energy, then you'll be free to spam abilities on the next floor. Or if you get unlucky on a floor and barely any ammo drops, then you may need to use Melee and stealth tactics on the next floor. I could see RNG affecting things that way.

But I'd like you do know what enemies to expect on each floor, what weapons you can expect to get on each floor, how much currency you can expect to acquire, and what items are for sale with that currency. I want to be able to get done with the Tower and think: "If I had saved my currency for just two more floors, I would have been able to get my favorite Mod and made the last half of the Tower so much easier... I'm going to go back in and try that..." Or maybe something like: "Even with Zenurik and the Armor Strip Augment, I'm still trying to survive 20 seconds to generate enough energy to cast it; I wonder if it would be easier if I just use Unairu to Armor strip with my Operator and I can instead buy survivability Mods for my Warframe..." The Tower would be predictable enough that those kinds of decisions are something you could make and see a direct benefit from. And after refining your strategy, you'd eventually get to the point where you had a clear and effective plan for each floor and feel like you absolutely conquered the it.

It's also not about time spent. On initial playthroughs, maybe you'd hide in a corner and snipe enemies from a distance because you don't think it would be wise to jump into the front lines. But after your refine you strategy and skills, you might be clearing each floor in under a minute. You wouldn't be going for a "bigger number," but rather a smaller total time. Or perhaps something a little bit harder to quantify, like the feeling of comfort that comes from knowing you've got everything you need to get through this floor with ease, or the excitement that comes from having such a good strategy that you can save up the currency for buying great mods to take down the final boss on the top floor.

 

Actually that would be a cool reward for this game mode! If it was that one of the Mods you buy and equip inside the tower (which are fully ranked) become your prize, then it could be picked randomly from all the mods you have equipped. (The probabilities would likely be weighted to favor Common > Uncommon > Rare > Legendary)

So for example, if you happen to be crazy-skilled and save up to buy just one mod--and it's a Prime Mod--at the second-to-last floor, then you'd be guaranteed to get just that Mod fully ranked as your prize. If you could do it in an hour and it was something like Primed Continuity, then that would be a prize worth 2.076,436 Credits, 350 Ducats, and 40,920 Endo. Just for the Endo alone that's a good rate, but if they had Mods that are very difficult to get like Quick Thinking or Contamination Casing, then it would be even more worth it just for the certainty of acquisition.