Decided to write out some of my thoughts on havoc.
Deranking System
It is my opinion that end of week derank to the lowest rank you have completed is too steep of a punishment for players who cannot or do not play that week. From what the playerbase originally thought the system would be, is if you did not play for 1 week, your rank would decrease by 1. I propose this is what the weekly derank is changed into.
Havoc chances before demotion should be increased from 3 to 5. This is an idea I have borrowed from Reginald because I agree with it. As it currently stands, it feels like build variety is hampered by the 3 chances. The demotion system is a good concept, but to increase build variety in havoc, ultimately 3 chances is not sufficient, whereas 5 would be ideal.
Hordes
If havoc is to be expanded above current cap of 40, timed hordes should return for it. Currently, the most optimal way to clear havoc, is to go very slowly, and exhaust horde and boss spawns, which is not particularly interesting from a mechanical standpoint. I enjoy the density of hordes in havoc, and they do not, in my opinion, need to be increased.
Here is how i would implement timed hordes.
For every 2 ranks above 40, there should be a set time between hordes, obeying the entity cap and implemented in a way where specialist spawning is not interrupted by the spawning of a new horde.
Starting at 40, the timer should be set at 10 minutes, decreasing by 60 seconds every other havoc rank, capping at 5 mins between a timed horde. This horde should not be included inside the allocated horde count in a sector.
Specialist Spawns
From my experience, and the experience of others, havoc seems to overly prioritize elites over spawning specialists, to the point where in an identical timed mission, on the same map, you would have around 100 specialists less than on a I-II-V-E-G Auric Maelstrom true duo.
For a game mode that is supposed to be the hardest content available, I believe that that specialist spawns are far too low. In a perfect world, you should see at least 100 more specialists than in a 3veg. A relatively easy fix would be reducing the time between coordinated strikes/surges.
Boss Walls
As high mobility weapons are significantly stronger in havoc than all over weapons, boss walls could provide mechanical complexity that is not simply running through the map. This would also clamp down on speedrunning and taxiing to current cap of 40.
Ammo Reduction
As it stands, some weapons are punished in havoc too much. Weapons like the Bolter, infantry autoguns, twin linked heavy stubbers etc. The cause of this is the 75% ammo pickup reduction, this hampers viable builds too heavily, and could use a reduction to around 50% less ammunition from pickups.
Thank you.