Mutators

were released in January 2022, and change the familiar by augmenting “Normal” and “Named” Enemies found within expeditions, changing the way encounters play out and what strategies players should consider before battle. And as combat changes, so do the rewards! New bespoke gear and resources can be found, providing additional means to increase your power level.

This system is intended to rotate through a unique combination of Expeditions and Mutations each week, with 10 difficulty levels per Expedition Mutation. Players will be challenged to climb the ladder, with the aim of eventually reaching the max difficulty.

Be advised that “Recommended Gear Score'” levels for a Mutated Expedition is important, as it directly factors into enemy scaling — and by consequence, your chances of success. Please note: This combat scaling is individual per player and separate from the base difficulty increases in health and damage.

Entering a Mutated Expedition
Players will require a codex for opening a Mutated version of the expedition. On completion of a Regular Difficulty Expedition, players will receive the Codex for that Expedition and a one time reward of a Mutated Expedition Tuning Orb.


 * Players that are invited to a group that already has a codex and orb will be rewarded with both items upon completion.
 * The Mutated Expedition Tuning Orb will not be rewarded on additional playthroughs of Regular Difficulty Expeditions.

Upon approaching and interacting with the Expedition Menu, players will be able to see the type of mutator available, the mutation level, Gear Score recommended to advance, and lastly if they meet qualifications for entry.

Mutator Orbs are universal. Players can craft 1 per week and will be able to purchase additional orbs in the Faction Shop.

Scoring & Advancement
Score is performance based, taken from a combination of categories. Score is also a shared value for group members.

The following categories count towards the group’s overall score value:
 * Time: The better the time, the better the score. Calculated at the end of a run.
 * AI Kills: A target value for killing a predetermined amount of enemies within the expedition.
 * Takedowns: A target value for killing “Named Enemies” within the expedition.
 * Team Wipes: Each team wipe during a boss fight reduces the score by a significant amount.
 * Respawns: Each respawn reduces the score by a moderate amount.

There are also Bonus Multipliers for run efficiency, minimal respawning/wiping, speed, and taking down all targets. These are calculated at the end of the Expedition run. The score ranks are Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

Advancement through each Mutator difficulty level requires reaching a predesignated level of proficiency within the highest achieved level. Higher scores mean advancement to higher difficulties, which in turn lead to bigger rewards.

Elemental
Elemental mutations infuse enemies in the Expedition with a specific elemental damage type, increasing their resistance to that damage type, converting a large portion of their damage to that type, and giving them powerful elemental-based abilities.
 * Hellfire: Hellfire infuses enemies with fire, allowing them to burn players who oppose them.
 * Eternal: Eternal infuses enemies with void, granting them them abilities that debuff players or buff their void-infused allies.

Promotions
Promotion mutations grant creatures in the Expedition powerful new abilities.
 * Savage: Savage AI apply healing reduction and cast damaging beams around themselves.
 * Indomitable: Indomitable creatures persist through damage with life-stealing abilities and are able to summon a phalanx, blocking all incoming player projectiles.

Curses
Curse mutations apply dangerous effects to players, forcing them to work together to overcome the curse’s power. At the highest difficulties, Curses become Empowered, creating additional tactical challenges.
 * Desiccated: Desiccated players will occasionally combust with elemental energy. When the curse is empowered, players will need to cleanse themselves by approaching the combusting player.
 * Censored: Censored players will find their abilities turning against them. After players in the group have used a certain number of activated abilities, explosive silence zones will appear on all players. When the curse is empowered, players will lose natural mana regeneration and must enter the silence zones to regenerate their mana.