Congrats with the Aztec launch, I really enjoy the expansion. Now it’s time to expand the Gauntlet further. Easiest and most valuable addition would be to make more Legends available. There are currently so many heroes in the Editor unused in the Gauntlet, the Aztec is also lacking representation. Besides the new Aztec heroes (including the big Skeleton guy), some obvious great additions are: Shuten Doji, Kagemasa, Yasuko, Sojobo, Huang Zhaowu, Houyi. As long as their stats and abilities are kept in check, it would be hard for any of them to be more powerful than some Legend already available (Halogi). Gauntlet is a fun mode with lots of imbalanced aspects already in presence, you can add more Legends without having to ponder too much about balancing since balancing wasn’t the strong point of the mode in the first place. Beside, we need more things to unlock, the leveling up isn’t satisfying enough since rewards are scarce and many are uninspiring. This is some easy work with readily available assets but could yield a lot of value for players.
I think adding unique equipment for each Legend, along with a skill-tree-like upgrade system, would make this mode much more replayable. An out-of-match Legend progression system could greatly improve long-term replay value.
It would also be great if the existing Blessings could be expanded in more detail, giving different pantheons unique military and economic effects. All Blessings should be kept, regardless of their quality, and players should be able to decide whether to keep a Blessing or convert it into Legend experience to upgrade their Legend.
By playing this mode, players could gradually unlock stronger effects and use them to face stronger enemies. More difficulty levels could also be added. Maybe the existing difficulty levels could simply be expanded by giving enemies bonus health and attack damage. The harder the difficulty, the higher the chance of earning stronger Legend equipment, more experience, and better Blessings.
Most importantly, this mode should support matchmaking with random teammates, while also allowing players to complete missions solo. For a mode like this, balance does not need to be the top priority. The main goal should be making it fun — just make it as enjoyable and chaotic as possible.
I think all the ideas you are proposing are good but considering how slow progress has been in adding content to the Gauntlet, it is unlikely the dev would implement drastic changes to the system (such as equipments) in the near future. Just adding new Legends, however, would be a no brainer move, it straight up boost the value of the mode substantially and there is no downside to speak of. All they have to do is pumping the Editor assets into the Gauntlet and the work is done.