Middle Management Pact is bad.

[Tinytim]

I like the idea of the pact. The problem is, some of the fights are actually easier with the pact than without.

Tartarus: laser crystal thingie, the normal room is a claustrophobic hellhole where you can't dodge the lasers no matter how hard you try. You will take dmg, and you essentially just try to nuke it as fast as possible to get it down. Now, the middle management room is suddenly this extremely spacious room WITH TRAPS that are PERFECT FOR SHOOTING THE BOSS. I killed the boss in half the time, with 1/5th of the damage taken.

Asphodel: Witch coven. Normal mode they produce a bullet hell. Middle management, they also have what I assume are indestructible and un-deflectable shots that they use in some fire patterns. Only issue is, the fire pattern for the indestructible ones is the easiest one of to dodge. So, while spamming special with bow won't work in this mode, it is significantly easier for me if I go for dodging, which I do with most other weapons.

Elysium with butterfly orb: It moves a lot more? Kinda disappointed about that one. Didn't really feel that much of a difference, and it was almost easier as I could attack nearby mobs as well as it moved around.

I only did the pact once, but I wonder how it is for the other encounters as well considering my one experience was so backwards.

And while I'm at it, the boss variant for Lernie is also preferable for my playstyle. Having to run the whole length from left to right and getting shot at, tons of small mobs spawning a distance away that will come and attack, vs getting to nuke all the small hydras quickly and get to phase 3 real fast. Maybe add some lava waves that will force you to jump to specific platforms at the right time?

(variant for the elysium duo is top-tier though, that one is just magical! )

EDIT: Okay, I've played with the pact a lot more recently. Some updates: The teleporting bugger in the first floor is an absolute menace in this mode. He's annoying enough normally if you have a slow weapon, but with the added mobs spawning, he's a monster if you meet him with e.g. the hidden aspect of coronacht..... That was one death defiance spent right away, and it wasn't even on particularly high heat. So, the pact makes one boss easier, and the way way harder.....

I met the gorgon, didn't really have that much of an issue with that fight tbh. But I guess that depends quite a lot on playstyle. I guess the teleporting makes her more difficult to manage at a range, but I generally go brawling if I can, so for me the big issue is that the armor makes her such a pain to attack since the windows between her stoning attacks are so small. Wouldn't mind a rework of that miniboss tbh. The 5 shots in succession in particular is agony to fight against with a close range build.

[Gregor]

You should meet the Gorgon and that Stoneface in Asphodel. I assume it took me 4 to 5 encounters to go past them without leaving at least 1 Death Defiance at that room, if that room didn't end my run prior to that and they where the most favored to end my 32 to Heat attempts. Now it's easier knowing patterns and timesequences on them, that took some time to learn though.

That Soulcatcher might even look for contact damage and the jumping around and can be a real mennace.

I'm not sure about that Tartarus one and personally from the times I've met the Doomstone, which I expect you to refer to, I'm not sure what the difference is for choosing the pacts part or the room I would encounter it in, so far it felt quite easily beatable.