So maybe it's just me, but I find it kind of annoying that I can go from the bottom of tier 2 where I'm getting good heat and crowns and a fairly easy fight (at this point), down to upper tier 3 (without going through haven) where everything has definitely been knocked up a notch in hardness and suddenly get essentially nothing.
I guess I always thought of heat as earned in 'the heat of battle' so going and dealing with the much harder fights of tier 3 to get much less heat seems super weird. Maybe I'm just thinking about it wrong.
I've heard it said that this is to encourage people to go past the tier midpoint and do longer runs. If that is the case, it seems like if you don't go back to haven between tier 2 and tier 3 you should be able to keep on going with the good heat and crown payout? I guess I see what the goal is, but when there are a lot of people playing it would be easy to just only join parties that were past the midpoint right?
My, not entirely thought out, suggestion would be along the lines of:
Each level down has slightly more heat (say bottom of tier3 has 3 times as much as top of tier1 on average) and the longer you play in one continuous run the higher your personal multiplier of that heat is (say up to 3x for going down to the core from haven.) I obviously don't have any access to numbers the ooo has, like average heat per level, average number of levels per run, amount of heat needed to level items, etc, so I'm sure my numbers are a little off, but just throwing it out there as a possibility to be tweaked.
Similarly, when I'm at the end of tier 2 I'll have probably a +14 vitapod, if I go and start tier 3 from haven, I have nothing - and several times I've had nothing for a couple of levels which is kind of vexing. Not sure if that is intentional or what, but since the first level of tier 3 seem to drop anything from zero vitapods to semi useless +4 to fairly high value + vitapods - it seem random whether you are punished for coming into tier three from haven or not. (vs continuing on from tier 2) Am I crazy?
I do personally like the idea of getting rewarded for continuing a run. When a new gate is created, I want to start at the top and work my way down...for the sake of just playing the entire thing...however as it is, it's a complete waste of about 200 Energy, or at least 100-150. Tier 1 gives me basically nothing in terms of Heat, and no Materials drop that I need, so those 8 levels are worthless. Tier 2 is only really any use near the end, closer to 14-17, but even so it's not anything spectacular. Once in a rare while I can get a material I happen to need on Tier 2, like a Swordstone, but really it's nothing spectacular either. So right there is about 140 Energy that's wasted if I do a full run. (Minus Crossroads and Towns)
Then you start Tier 3, and even there for the first 2-3 levels it's nothing major (At least in my opinion). I mean, sure, the monsters do more damage, but they have less health. As long as they are not skeletons (Which are pretty annoying in my opinion), I don't take any damage, and most monsters die in a few hits before they can get any attacks off (Especially if they are Beast or Fiend).
I would love to find a reason to do the entire Gate of any Gate...but right now I come up empty. If there was a cumulative bonus that gathers as you do levels, it would do wonders on my reasoning to do earlier Tiers...because I'm playing for fun, and I want it to be so, and since the game auto-nerfs your equipment, it really is pretty fun no matter what level you play. Maybe not one that gathers on every floor, but perhaps something that gathers if you do an entire Tier. For example, if I do Tier 1 -> Tier 2 without stopping, I get 1.5x Heat/Crowns. If I start at Tier 2 and work through to Tier 3 without stopping, 2.0x, and if you do the ENTIRE gate, Tier 1 -> Tier 2 gets 1.5x, but Tier 1 -> Tier 2 -> Tier 3 gives 3.0x when you're in Tier 3, or something like that. It would give a reason for us to help newer players too. We can help them, then when we hit a floor they can't do, we just go without them. We helped them for an entire run, and we get a bonus for doing so.