I’d like to hear our thoughts on all of the missions. Namely, what you like and don’t like about them.
I don’t want to do one mega-thread b/c I want all missions to get their fair shake of commentary. I don’t think it’s necessary to have each one on their own either. As such, I’ll divide the series into 5 parts, with 3 different missions each, starting with…
Malwarfare - Neat holographic fun (even if it’s functionally the same thing). Bonus objective is the most unique (paying resources to a building!)
I’m conflicted about escort missions (not just in coop, this game, RTSes, but in various bric-a-brac video games for that matter). They provide a fun alternative to the usual fare, but some of them, the escorted aren’t smart. The evacuation shuttle in SoA just flies over enemy towers and units, but at least that’s an bonus objective.
Vermillion Problem - Donny Vermillion is an NPC legend. Even got his own comic in the last war chest (although I hope they can finish it at some point). Seems a bit Star Wars-ish, but neat to actually deploy some concept of “high ground”. This map has special uses for workers
Lame how enemies are immune to lava (even though they are programmed to avoid it).
Void Thrashing - It’s quick, rewards aggression.
Too many people queue this map for rapid leveling up.
At first I didn’t like Malwarfare. But once the timings and the base strengths were figured out, I like it as much as all the rest. The long distance to the end of the path is a tad annoying, but not enough to not like the map.
I know a lot people don’t like this one, but I love it for one simple reason: it was my very first Coop mission. It holds a special place in my heart.
I like it for it’s speed. We usually have it finished before I max out. I also like the Sgt Hammer character. She owes me a lot of beer.
Malwarfare - nothing special to say, good map, bonus is quite unique and intresting. The only annoying thing is that bug where Propagators/Reanimators etc. mutators can’t be eliminated by destroying all buildings.
Vermillion Problem - with my F2 addiction it’s quite a pain to play ground comps on this one, easily dragging reinforcements into lava. So I prefer commanders with warping units (Artanis, Nova…), convenient teleport abilities (Kerrigan, Zeratul) or just focus mainly on air units if none of previous is available. Also expansion is guarded by air, so as Zagara P1/Vorazun/Abathur having difficulties with expanding if ally not helping.
Void Thrashing - nice quick map, good for farming XP. On this one I mostly change my usual strategies which involve high tier or vast variety of units and mass some low tier stuff to clear the map faster. Also if commander have teleport option I like to clear 4th spawn from behind instead of storming the front where dangerous spellcasters are waiting to throw some bs at me.
Malwarfare - The biggest complaint about this map is a teammate who neither communicate nor assist in main/bonus objectives. A quiet teammate makes it difficult to divide responsibility.
Vermillion Problem - Again, teammate. I wish when a crystal is chosen by your worker, your teammate can’t hijack it while your worker is already half way across the map.
Void Thrashing - Not a fan. Too quick for me to enjoy upgrading my units.
Malwarfare: A neat map that forces squads to divided and conquer, especially for bonus objectives and main objectives. A decent time, until you run into Speed Freaks + Poops. :c Also, Aurana is racist against the Tal’Darim.
Vermillion Problem: Go hug your peanut butter, Donny. Mostly a snooze fest of a map, as even slow Commanders like Swann can do a decent amount here. Lots of options for map movement, and splitting up often works out well. The lava is the worst bit about this map.
Void Thrashing: Fastest map to complete and simplest. Good for level grinding, otherwise kind of a snooze fest.
Void thrashing/Lock & Load - too short/speedrun cheese
Scythe of Amon - if you ally doesn’t go for the 1st expansion it will be in hard mode, Void Crystal and Lightning AoE punishes you for not microing your army. Optional objective start time is still inconsistent.
Void Launch/Mist/Malwarfare - Punishes Kerrigan P1, Stetmann P2 if player is not diligent in spreading creep/stetfields
DoN - (not really hate but more like an annoyance) chokers, spotters, and kaboomers.
Rifts - Optional is hard to get if you don’t bring AA like a ground comp Karax (and you don’t have enough immortals).
Vermillion Problem - If you focus on just gathering crystals you could actually end up forgetting about the optional objective.
Oblivion Express - (again not hating just annoying) when your ally is a super aggro commander like Zagara/Alarak and you’re defensive like P1 Karax and they camp the spawn points and your beautifully constructed defenses don’t get any action.
Miner Evac - Could lead to early defeat if you are not prepared for the first ship event or if a newbie partner starts it too early.
Temple of the Past - I guess early on when you find you are against a ground comp and you don’t prep any AA and a hybrid nemesis spawns with the attack wave.
Void Launch - Nothing really to hate on this map. I guess it is also prone to spawn camping on the last few waves and your partner leaves you none to destroy.
Malwarfare is an awesome assault map but needs more randomization. One issue is having a partner rush the first bonus and leaving the objective. It’s incredibly fun as Nova P3.
VP needs more crystals per round, so you can clear it faster if you want. Also needs more randomization of the crystal location, which the added crystals can allow, so it’s not game over if you can’t get them all.
VT makes me mute the game for the first few minutes. Sgt. Hammer is annoying and over the top. Sometimes an ally will trigger the thrashers early, usually a Dehaka. Bonus is too easy. Best thing about the map is the attacks from the thrashers will damage enemy units so it can be fun to pull the enemy into AoE.
