My Idea On How A Difficulty Setting Would Work

[Slaskia]

We already know DE would like to put a difficulty setting (of a sort) into the game at some point.  The question is though, how to set it up? Well, how about using the random ‘difficulty’ rating that is already in game (the 1 – 5 one that flashes with the mission type during the entry cutscene)?  Give players control over that, with the host deciding the difficulty during co-op missions.

 

I was thinking ‘3’ would be the ‘normal’ difficulty, with ‘1’ being ‘easiest, and ‘5’ hardest.  I realize that ‘easy’ and ‘hard’ is very subjective, so the following ‘adjustments’ to each level is based on my perception (average, mostly casual player) and if soloing:  please keep that in mind.  These are just ideas anyway and things I’m not sure about will have a (?) by it (I do not know if this should apply to alerts or not, btw)

 

Difficulty 1

 

Enemy level – Enemies levels set to less than player level, depending on level range of planet vs Player, (up to 10 level difference), but never lower than the Planet’s lowest point on its level range. (?)

Enemy strength – Weak (-50% weapon damage) and uncoordinated.  Prone to panic (? – could be very annoying on extermination mission types)

Enemy numbers – Low, no more than 3 per spawn (?), Multiple spawns possible in especially large rooms.

Enemy spawn habits – Enemy only spawns ahead of you, never behind.  MOA closets destructible and/or have only one MOA each.  No ‘elite’ type mobs (heavy gunners, commanders, Ancients etc), save for bosses on their appropriate missions.

Objectives – Hostage/Prisoner is not killable.  Captive weak and doesn’t run. (much how he is now, can’t really make him weaker…)

XP/material/mod drop rate – -50% penalty (?), bosses only drop materials (?)

Online mode – Solo/Private only

 

Difficulty 2

 

Enemy level – Enemies levels set to less than player level, depending on level range of Planet vs Player, (up to 5 level difference), but never lower than the Planet’s lowest point on its level range. (?)

Enemy strength – Weak (-25% weapon damage), but coordinated.  Disrupters only take 50% of either your energy or shields, not both. (?)

Enemy numbers – Low - mid, no more than 5 per spawn (?), Multiple spawns possible in especially large rooms.

Enemy spawn habits – Enemy only spawns ahead of you, never behind.  MOA closets destructible and/or have only three MOA each.  Elite units limited to one per spawn group and uncommon.

Objectives – Hostage/Prisoner is not killable.  Captive weak, but has chance to try to run, or fight back (10%?):  If fighting back, weapon is a melee type.

XP/material/mod drop rate – -25% penalty (?), bosses only drop materials, mods (?)

Online mode – Solo/Private only (?)

 

Difficulty 3

 

Enemy level – Enemies levels equal to player level, depending on level range of Planet vs Player.  Enemy strength – Normal weapon damage and coordinated. Disrupters take 75% of either shield or energy (?)

Enemy numbers – Mid, no more than 5 per spawn (?), Multiple spawns possible in especially large rooms.

Enemy spawn habits – Enemy typically spawns ahead of you, but chance of spawning behind.  MOA closets spawn 5 MOAs each max.

Objectives – Hostage/Prisoner is killable, but has good shield/health.  Captive has more health, and has a chance to try to run, or fight back (25%?):  If fighting back, weapon is a random pistol type.

XP/material/mod drop rate – no XP penalty.  Bosses drop materials, mods and 75% chance to drop BPs (?)

Online mode – All modes

 

Difficulty 4

 

Enemy level – Enemies levels higher than player level, depending on level range of Planet vs Player (up to 5 level difference), but never higher but never higher than the Planet’s highest point on its level range.

Enemy strength – +25% increase in weapon damage. Disrupters take 50% of both shield and energy (?)

Enemy numbers – Mid - high, 6 - 10 per spawn (?), Multiple spawns in especially large rooms.

Enemy spawn habits – Enemy typically spawns ahead of you, but a good chance of spawning behind.  MOA closets spawn infinite MOA, but at a fixed rate if you are still in the room.   Elite units can show up in multiples (up to 3 per spawn).

Objectives – Hostage/Prisoner is killable, has normal shield/health.  Captive has more health, and has a chance to try to run, or fight back (50%?):  If fighting back, weapon is a random rifle type.

XP/material/mod drop rate – +10% XP.  Bosses drop materials, mods and 100% chance to drop BPs (?)

Online mode – All modes

 

Difficulty 5

 

Enemy level – Enemies levels higher than player level, depending on level range of Planet vs Player (up to 10 level difference), but never higher than the Planet’s highest point on its level range.

Enemy strength – +50% increase in weapon damage. Disrupters take 100% of both shield and energy (?)

Enemy numbers – Mid - high, 10+ per spawn (?), Multiple spawns in especially large rooms.

Enemy spawn habits – Enemy typically spawns ahead of you, but a good chance of spawning behind.  MOA closets spawn infinite MOA, at a fast rate.  Elite units can show up in multiples (up to 5+ per spawn).

Objectives – Hostage/Prisoner is killable, has low shield/health.  Capture target has high health, and will fight back (?):  Capture target has a fully modded Hek (;))

XP/material/mod drop rate – +25%XP.  Bosses drop materials, mods and 100% chance to drop ‘set’ BPs (e.g. warframe BPs), 50% chance to drop a second, random BP (?)

Online mode – All modes (?)

 

Remember, these are just my examples on how I would set it up:  everyone is different.  I admit I am no ‘hardcore, always play on insanity mode’ type and there’s lots of variables in this I’m sure I missed/forgot  (I left out player strength on purpose, as I felt it was unneeded if the mobs are getting nerfed/boosted instead).

 

Feel free to give freeback, or provide your own ideas of a difficulty system. :)

[Saifon]

At times I think a difficulty toggle would add more to the game aka the viability of more solo play or helping out low rank friends I'm reminded of how large the warframe scope is. Harder difficulty forces the community to go in a certain direction and this silent manipulation forces progress. It also enables skill and dedication to show itself. For example in the WOW community many players never make it to the highest level of play not not just because of the difficulty but because they can get the pve content in a easier package. While some see this as a player friendly option others see it as a community ganking cripple. People lose the desire to play to higher levels if they can get the rewards at a flip of a switch.