Weekly PvE Event - No Scaling, One-Time Rewards

Stax the Foyer

Expanding on my post in another thread, here's an official suggestion for a new weekly PVE event that runs parallel to the normal PvEs. Unlike the regular PvE, the nodes here would have one-time rewards that scale with the difficulty of the nodes.

It would be fun to have flavor text, but a pure linear gauntlet would work just as well, and would allow a wide variety of potential opponents.

There would be a small number of nodes, no more than 10. Beating each node would unlock the next. If you wanted, you could put limitations on the available characters for each node, both in terms of star ranking like DDQ nodes, and in terms of selection, like a heroic. That would reward deeper rosters and further gate the big rewards.

Nodes would reward large chunks of ISO, or covers of an appropriate level. For example, node rewards could be as follows:

1) 250 ISO
2) Specific 2* cover
3) 1000 ISO
4) Specific 3* cover
5) 2500 ISO
6) 5x Heroic Tokens
7) 10,000 ISO
8) Specific 4* Cover
9) 50,000 ISO
10) Specific 4* Cover and 25 CP

By gating each of these rewards behind nodes of steadily increasing difficulty, you're ensuring that people will receive rewards commensurate with their roster progression and their need. A 2* roster doesn't need a weekly batch of 50,000 ISO, but a 4*/5* roster does. Right now, DDQ is great, but it's tuned for 3* ISO needs at best. 4*s need much more ISO, especially now that they're not even endgame characters. The 4* DDQ node does nothing to address 4* ISO needs.

By making these one-time nodes, you're not flooding the ecosystem with resources or covers. The later nodes could be brutally difficult, so that they might take a few chances even with a good roster. In addition, by making it several nodes instead of a single node, you're making it superwhale-proof, as it takes about 10 days to get enough points for a superwhale. The most you could do on a regular basis is progress an extra node deep beyond what your roster normally allows.

This would help address multiple complaints at once, including (1) the lack of non-competitive PvE, (2) the increased ISO needs and lack of ISO options for progressed rosters, (3) content that allows play on your own schedule, and (4) provide an additional source of specific covers, especially 4* covers. Using the Gauntlet framework, it could be done with little additional development work, and would create almost no additional server strain.

Thats not to say that you couldn't do much more with this. If win conditions are ever built into this game, you could add an extra level of difficulty and reward. Imagine needing to beat the last node without a 5* character to get a bonus reward, or to do it with at least one 3* or under character without a character dying. That would really feel like a puzzle quest game again, and would reward careful party setup, and deep roster development.