Things you like/hate about each map. 4of5(CoA, DoN, and CoD

Co-op Missions Discussion
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First part is here (along with links to all the other parts). 5 parts so that each mission can get its fair shake, without too many threads

Chain of Ascension - The quintessential tug-of-war map. Pre-clearing areas is fun and helps, but spawn camping isn’t really a thing here.

It’s easy to miss just how close J’inara is from home pit, so it’s not unusual to realize too late and you lose. Bonus obj. can be REALLY annoying for some COs. You tend to get the big gun waves sicc-ed on you early on (we’re talking Carriers, BCs, and a good chunk of T2 units to boot).

Dead Of Night - Was a fan of the mission this is based off of in WoL, and also a fan of the zombie survivor scenarios that that mission was based off of. The 5 “hero infested”… Stank, Choker, Kaboomer, Spotter, and Hunter do provide for some nice variety in the roster of missions. If you’re a CO who’s fast to ramp up, this is frantic but fun to finish early (by Day 3, if not earlier). This mission can make good use of defenses and towers! Day night mechanic is neat. Unpopular opinion, but I like having only one base offering only 50% more resources vs. a typical 2-base setup. You get less resources, but it should be balanced out by the fact that you don’t need to expand (which helps towards quick finish)

This is one of the rare moments where I dread having a Tychus ally. If they wander too far off, or don’t make preparations vs. Chokers (one ally had Sirius turrets IIRC), they’ll get wrecked. I’ll do what I can to help, but it’s not always easy. This is a map where you really push, but is disguised as the opposite. Map is also cramped. It sucks if you have 2 COs who require a lot of building space. You can consolidate defenses vs. NE and SE entrances (helps on certain mutations), but that’ll further limit your building space. I’ve had to build supply depots and pylons at the SW part of the map after clearing those spots.

Cradle Of Death - It’s an escort mission, but at least you get to control the thing you’re escorting (so you can tell it to not run through enemy tower territory, or to not take so freaking long on rails). Update a while back did give Trucks a nice boost in speed. When they’re making their way to the empty pad, they seem to get a “kick of nitro”. Stone says “truck” a lot. After a while, I just substitute another word that rhymes with that, and it still feels appropriate. The way enemies just drop pod/warp right next to your truck does keep you on your toes. The mission can make good use of players who can set up a decent defense (unless you got someone who’s mobile and can go back to defend without missing too many beats)

Stone says “truck” A LOT. The way enemy forces materialize next to your truck gets obnoxious. The area going kablooie means you’ll have to flee and come back for Essence/biomass. Not sure why they changed the bonus obj. to keep the truck there.

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Chain of Ascension: It’s a unique map. I enjoy it for the small bit of challenge it offers, but hate it for the 13 minute attack wave. (I think it was the 13 minute one.) Nothing like having an early-mid game full power attack wave barreling you down lol.

Dead of Night: For some COs, this is actually a fun map. Namely P3 Nova and anything Han & Horner. However, I have a scornful hatred of Spotters and Hunterlings.

Cradle: I really do not like this map. There is a lot of strict timers and forced teamwork with a somewhat confusing map RNG layout. It can be a nightmare with an unaware ally, and the aggressive, constant existence of the Aggressive Deployment mutator ends up being tedious.

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Sheesh, makes me wonder what CoD is like with the actual Aggressive Deployment mutator on top of that!

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I really would rather not play CoD or DoN.

Reasons being:

  1. For CoD, a lot of people simply don’t enjoy it, so they just quit. Not that solo’ing isn’t fun… but the frequency this occurs make the experience no longer unique. Map isn’t exactly a masterpiece either, and I’m sure everyone can see a few reasons why.
  2. For DoN, there’s just a few too many who choose this endlessly like there’s some glory in defending 1-2 extra nights. As a result, far too many “randomized DoN” show up. I get it, I play it, I end it quickly, then I move on. And I hope to god it isn’t queued up again… which I am often proven wrong.
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That would be a nightmare, honestly. You’d be stuck babysitting the trucks 48/7. Having to babysit them enough as it is, lol. Slower COs do not like Cradle, at least in my hands. Even with my time into playing Co-op, and further more into Alarak, I still get twisted fingers trying to micro my army, spellcasters, War Prism, and truck.

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Oh I quite like popping the constructs, very satisfying!

I agree with others that the most annoying parts about DoN and CoD is the players who either always play them or never play them.

DoN: I like this map in a random rotation but sometimes if I get a Karax P1 for the second time in a row I might say something like “I def you att” just to see the response. I enjoy sniping buildings with units that otherwise don’t get much use (banshees and wraith for instance).

CoD: I enjoy this except for the times that my ally insta leaves. Annoying when my ally doesn’t know to try to keep truck outside of base to control location of aggressive deployment waves. I would like the truck to auto move to pad when both constructs are cleared.

CoA: I love the Alarak banter. Good teamwork mission. Nice that it’s not hard to clear buildings on tough building dependent mutations. Feels easier with commanders who have well timed call downs for certain waves but harder with commanders who don’t. Optional that requires attention and nice that occasionally I can rescue my ally or be rescued by my ally if a mistake is made and some army gets stuck in chrysalis’.

First post in this series!

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CoA: Not a bad map, though if your teammate went ahead lead J’inara too far andtriggered first hybrid, those who early expand might not have the units to help take it down at Brutal+

DoN: One of my favorite, even with very annoying heroic units. The benefit of not needing to exp helps prepping and planning. Admittedly, the barricades hinder Stukov but only in easier modes when enemies cannot destroy them efficiently.

CoD: I hate this map. Babysitting that truck which has to fight the same uphill routes with your units is annoying as hell. One thing I do enjoy is that their waves at times come from different direction of your objective, it adds extra precaution.