Quick change to itemization in levels to help with the dead end problem. There are still some dead ends possible, and I think this is good for the risk / reward of exploration and weighing that against the escalation time.
But now collectibles are a bit more likely to spawn in rooms that don't have objective's in them. It's now up to you to decide if you want to fully explore levels and risk the timer, or stick to the objectives only. This is an indirect buff to escalation time perks as well, since those will now result in a slightly high loot collection rate.
Additionally, bosses and mini-bosses have an additional item drop added to them to balance this out a little and make the loot-splosions more exciting.