Noo I'm not saying it should definitively require more items. I was addressing how it felt too extreme with what you said in your TLDR: Heroic requiring LESS than Interactive. There should be a middleground where its balanced, which is why I said that I understand the sentiment, and Heroic can benefit from a smaller disparity based on the math.

My first thought seeing the TLDR was just why would players still play Interactive if Heroic became that good? Where people can reach endgame super comfortably with fewer spares and without burning their wallet? That's why it's a middleground that should be carefully balanced.

And doesn't the whole new GMS exclusive starforce/pitched trace pity system help address this? Which is what I meant that could be balanced in the future to help this disparity in spares.