Nightwave Intermission 2 Was Okay But Could Have Been So Much Better

This sounds like a weird thing to say, but I actually didn’t mind the stupidly long Intermission 2 that much. Sure, it was around for a very long time, but Nightwave was something… just there. Unlike the main episodes, Nightwave Intermission 2 could be done at a leisurely pace. But it was also something you could completely forget about, or even finish with ease.

Since it’s ending today, I feel like we should talk about it.

Yes, Intermission 2 went on for far too long.

In fact, it went on for so long that DE had to increase the cap. Twice. First they had to change it from 30 levels plus 30 prestige levels, to 60 prestige levels. Then they increased it again to 90 prestige levels. But even then, that wasn’t enough! Anyone who did Nightwave every week could still easily hit level 90 and be stuck there.

Heck, after I hit the first level 30, I basically stopped bothering. Even though I wasn’t actively doing Nightwave at all, I still somehow managed to hit (prestige) level 52. Without even trying. I basically only did a few dailies and main challenges a week, and the odd elite challenge simply because I played ESO or killed a ton of enemies.

So yeah, it was definitely too long.

But that wasn’t the problem, the cap was.

You see, Nightwave does do one thing well, and that’s give us a reliable supply of Nitain, potatoes and Kuva. Assuming you hit the prestige levels. If you hit level 90 though, you no longer get any rewards at all. One guy I ran into said he hit the level 60 cap instantly, and when they upped it to 90, he had already automatically hit level 72.

The issue is that there was a cap in general. Sure, you need to stop at some point, but why did no one consider just making the cap something stupid like 1000? That way we could have left Intermission 2 going indefinitely. There shouldn’t have been a reachable cap in the first place, and that was Nightwave’s biggest issue.

Okay, to be fair, the rewards were shit too, past level 30.

15 credits per prestige level is a bit mediocre. Sure, you need a steady supply but it’s a tiny amount. You need 50 creds to get 10k Kuva, which means a minimum of 4 levels. That’s not too bad, but the fact that you only get creds gets boring quickly.

There’s tons of ways that prestige levels could have been better. Maybe up the number of creds you get after hitting prestige levels 30, 60 and 90? Or why not have a new reward every ten levels? How about getting a free Forma, Reactor or Catalyst every 15 levels? Plenty of options! But no, all we got was 15 creds, every time.

Heck, even just looping rewards would have been better. You get to level 30? The rewards wrap around, and any duplicate cosmetic rewards are replaced with creds. Might as well give people a chance to get another Umbral Forma.

Aside from that though? Nightwave Intermission 2 could have gone on indefinitely.

Seriously. It’s not like we’re getting that much lore with these things. Sure, Glassmaker promises more murder-mystery. But Wolf of Saturn Six and the Emissary were both so… pointless, really. One is literally just about some escaped prisoners doing shit then hitting Alad V because why not. The other is about a totally not infected cult that turned into an infected cult. Both of which kinda struggle alongside existing lore, since we know the Grineer tend to murder their criminals rather than imprison them and the Infested have been doing infested stuff for years.

Neither were nothing new. So they might as well have been intermissions. As long as players keep on getting rewarded for their efforts, most people don’t give the lore much of a thought. When people can easily access Nitain and Kuva, they are happy.

But Intermission 2 failed when it stopped giving people rewards.

Never mind, it’s over now. Hopefully Glassmaker won’t have the same problems as Intermission 2.

Oh, who am I kidding? Of course it will.