What the heck is wrong with Nightmare mode rewards?

As a somewhat new player, I’m a bit frustrated with Nightmare mode and the mod drops. They seem to not match the reward tables.

Generally this happens when I run a mission, I’m trying to go for tier 3 (hard 30+) mods, and I get something that I don’t expect.

I’ve started keeping track of the missions and their levels and the rewards, here’s some data:

• Planet: Mercury

Level: <20

Type: –

Drop: Wildfire

Tier: 1

• Planet: Venus

Level: <20

Type: –

Drop: Accelerated Blast

Tier: 1

• Planet: Earth

Level: <20

Type: –

Drop: Accelerated Blast

Tier: 1

• Planet: Phobos

Level: 20-22

Type: –

Drop: Seeking Fury

Tier: 2

• Planet: Uranus

Level: 34-39

Type: Survival (5 mins)

Drop: Vigor

Tier: 3

• Planet: Void

Level: 40+

Type: Capture

Drop: Fortitude

Tier: 2

• Planet: Neptune

Level: 38-40

Type: Rescue

Drop: Wildfire

Tier: 1

Already in this more recent data there are two examples of times I should have received tier 3 rewards but only got a lower tier. After receiving Vigor, I thought tracking the mission type might help also. Perhaps this factors into the difficulty somehow? But I don’t think the wiki mentions anything about mission type as a factor.

Has anyone else experienced this? Am I just doing something wrong?

Advice

Easy Nightmare Missions can be found on Earth, Venus, Mars, Phobos and Mercury and contain:

• Ice Storm
• Stunning Speed
• Hammer Shot
• Wildfire
• Accelerated Blast
• Blaze
• Chilling Reload

Medium Nightmare Missions can be found on Jupiter, Ceres, Saturn, Void, and Europa and contain:

• Drifting Contact
• Seeking Fury
• Armored Agility
• Shred
• Rending Strike
• Fortitude

Hard Nightmare Missions can be found on Sedna, Pluto, Lua, Neptune, Uranus, and Eris and contain:

• Streamlined Form
• Animal Instinct
• Vigor
• Lethal Torrent
• Focus Energy
• Constitution

Nightmare mods loot table on the wiki is outdated. I found this in the change log. It’s accurate.

Original Link – Continuation of discussion