TLDR; A mutated orb should represent an umbral shard count which is decremented per attempt. This will reduce the toxicity brought about by only running dungeons with those at your current level while also allowing more seasoned players to distribute the shards earned from their orbs to are much broader portion of the player base.
Right now a M10 Gold is worth 6,000 shards and an M8 is worth 2,000 shards. My suggestion is to allow an individuals orb to represent the shard count of the highest unlocked level. If I for example have unlocked M10 and have a group of friends that I like to play with who are only able to consistently compete at M8, I should be able to use my M10 orb to run with my group at M8 up to 3 times before my orb is consumed.
Instead of alienating my friends because their GS is not at my level and thus not worthy of using my orb, it would instead promote stronger ties amongst players. It would allow veteran players to help run with those who are still on the GS treadmill. The total number of potential umbral shards in circulation would not change, just how they are potentially distributed.
Currently a mutated orb is a 1 time use entity which if you are not using to your highest unlocked mutation is effectively “losing out on shards”. There have been many posts about the toxicity that the current system is bringing upon the player base. As more players get higher in their mutation levels, it will further segregate the playing population into separate groups purely due to the GS wall currently introduced in the latest patch. I personally believe as time goes on that this system will do more harm than good to the community and believe that this small alteration could have a profound improvement on this problem.
Thanks for reading!
Rokor