What's your preferred heat setup(s)?

[GiantOctopodes]

For me, this is what I consider "Baseline", I wouldn't normally play on lower heat since I consider all of these to be enhancements to the gameplay experience I wouldn't want to do without. It's 11 heat, but again none of it is bad, it just makes the gameplay more varied (with Benefits Package) and more interesting in the boss fights (with Middle Management and Extreme Measures), while disabling survival rooms since those are boring once you figure out the optimal strategy is just to run around in a circle for a minute.

Extreme Measures 3
Benefits Package +1
Middle Management
Tight Deadline 9 minutes

This is what I use for 20 heat, I find it can be cleared by basically any build and aspect, the most annoying part is Underworld Customs but I don't have something I would prefer over it for those 2 heat, some builds aren't fast enough for Tight Deadline 5 minutes.

Convenience Fee +40%
Extreme Measures 3
Calisthenics Program +15%
Benefits Package +1
Middle Management
Underworld Customs
Forced Overtime +20%
Tight Deadline 7 minutes

What do all of you use? Do you change it up depending on the weapon you're using or the build you're going for? Do you commonly play on much higher heat, to where you have a "standard" for more than 20? Or do you not bump up the heat at all? Either way, let me know!

[Paranoia]

After dealing with the Prohesies related to Heat, at low Heats I alternate Extreme Measures and Tight Deadline. Bosses are not all that harder with Extreme Measures, Hades aside, and Tight Deadline does not really make things harder when there is no other Heat in play.

After 6 Heat from Extreme Measures and 7 minute deadline, I usually start disabling Mirror (after Mirror- and Boon-related prophesies have been dealt with). Mostly on the rationale that it is mostly like what early runs are anyway. Two points into that will do fine.

After that point it is just what I do not want to turn on: I will never voluntarily increase Trap damage due Hades being miserable due to 150 damage Traps. It is criminal this is only worth one extra Heat.
I do not really want to remove the Boon or Weapon upgrade options, somewhat funnily enough because the UI trolls me by showing the options I am not allowed to take.
And lastly I do not really want to make the enemies faster. My favourite God is Demeter, how did you guess? But, seriously, a faster Hades gets a bit too intense for me.

[Jakkson K]

I find the game to be less fun with the patheticness of normal hades. If I don't put on extreme measures 4, if I get to hades it is basically a confirmed win.

So I put on extreme measures 4 to keep the runs having that excitement all the way until the end.

I find 7 minute deadline to not affect gameplay at all for bonus heat.

I enjoy running armored enemies with 1 bonus ability if I want to through on more heat. I usually struggle to keep track of 2 abilities.

If I need just one more heat I throw on Damage Control 1. It doesn't change most of the game except in Elysium and in the rat hordes is stryx. Damage control 2 changes the early game enemies a bit much for a lot of weapons. If I am running a fast weapon Damage control 2 isn't an issue. If I run Excalibur...

I find Underworld Customs a very interesting one, but I will only grab if I don't grab Damage control or high shop prices or mirror removal.

Edit: mixed up approval process and underworld customs

[GiantOctopodes]

Originally posted by Jakkson K:

I find the game to be less fun with the patheticness of normal hades. If I don't put on extreme measures 4, if I get to hades it is basically a confirmed win.

So I put on extreme measures 4 to keep the runs having that excitement all the way until the end.

I find 7 minute deadline to not affect gameplay at all for bonus heat.

I enjoy running armored enemies with 1 bonus ability if I want to through on more heat. I usually struggle to keep track of 2 abilities.

If I need just one more heat I throw on Damage Control 1. It doesn't change most of the game except in Elysium and in the rat hordes is stryx. Damage control 2 changes the early game enemies a bit much for a lot of weapons. If I am running a fast weapon Damage control 2 isn't an issue. If I run Excalibur...

I find Underworld Customs a very interesting one, but I will only grab if I don't grab Damage control or high shop prices or mirror removal.

Edit: mixed up approval process and underworld customs

The choice for Damage Control somewhat confuses me, you run +75% uninjured foe damage don't you? Or do you do the backstab damage? Either way, I'm just saying, in order for Damage Control to be less of an impact than Calisthenics Program, you need to be averaging at least 7 hits to kill. Every enemy that you would 1 shot and now 2 shot or would 2 shot and now 3 shot (which even with spear or fists, should include pots and crystals and so forth) you need to have an enemy which you need 12 or 13 hits to kill.

Of course if with Calisthenics program it moves you from normally 1 shotting to needing 2 hits or from 2 to 3 that changes things entirely, so it's not at all clear cut, I'm just saying Damage Control even with fast weapons seems much more extreme of a modifier.

Hey you also like EM4 though so more power to you, clearly you like playing on hard mode. I'll put it on for a challenge and have beaten it of course but having it be part of a "normal run" is not for me; as it stands I need to enter Hades with at least 300 HP (incl. Deaths Defiances) to be confident I'll win, with EM4 it's more like 500, which is far less consistent of a target for me while messing around with random untested builds.

[Jakkson K]

I use damage control because of bosses. I don't know if calisthenics includes bosses (I would assume so), but I damage control makes no difference on bosses and I never take much damage to random floors. Occasionally minibosses which do take like 10 or more hits to kill. As I say, damage control doesn't feel noticeably until Elysium or Stryx. I would rather have to hit hades 1 more time than 15% more times.

When I play I only worry about choices that affect bosses or minibosses.

I don't see EM4 as hard mode, I think of it as the true game. As I said, getting to normal hades I know I am gonna win as I almost always have 3 death defiances and like 250+ HP. If my run is going poorly normal hades is difficult. But my winrate against normal hades after the first time I beat him is 88%.

EM and Benefits Package are the only two actually interesting heat options. Rest are either too hard, too easy, or just kinda not fun in the case to higher shop prices.
If I were to rank the heat set-ups on a tier list on how well I think they work and how interesting they are, it would probably go like this:
S Tier: EM
A Tier: Benefits Package, Tight Deadline, Underworld Customs
B Tier: Jury Summons, Middle Management, Heightened Security, Routine Inspection
C Tier: Hard Labor, Calisthenics Program, Damage Control, Forced Overtime (all the stat buffs)
D Tier: Convenience fee, Approval Process