So right now when you jump on an elevator at the end of the level, you have two choices: you can proceed with your group, or you can go up to haven. I'd like to see a third option added: proceed solo.

Suppose you're heading down to do RJ or FSC or something. You jump into a random team, or maybe port down to a friend and do a few levels as a group. You make it down to the level before basil, and for one reason or another decide that you'd like to do the latter stratum either solo or with a different group. Maybe you or they want to invite down some friends or guildies to do a more organized run, or just feel like running solo, or whatever.

Before the party-lock, you'd just proceed onto basil, go solo there, and invite whoever to fill out the team. But now with the party lock that's not possible, and instead the only options are: go solo before basil at the beginning of the previous level and be forced to solo through it, go solo at the end of the previous level and lose any collected heat, or go solo at basil and try to invite people on the level after.

I feel that it's much more convenient/polite to invite people at basil, given there's no energy cost and it's easy for them to tweak their gear if they'd forgotten to change before clicking "Let's Go", but that means either losing heat or soloing most/all of a level, which could be suboptimal. Granted the upcoming gear stations at the beginnings of levels will ease the gear change, but it's still nicer to join at basil.

As such, I think it would be nice if there were the option to go solo on the elevator, thus avoiding having to solo a level or lose heat, and avoid locking the party at basil.