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COMMON HEADER INFORMATION TO ALL MAP & MODE REVIEWS
Maps will either be listed with Smurfy links when you can mouse over Lance and Turret locations to see what is where at match start. I will provide a map image or two of my own modified from Smurfy’s with marking showing in White outlined areas where typical combat is at least in my ELO bracket and possible recommendations for new Turret locations for reasons described, these will be in SPOILER sections. If two maps are similar (ex: Frozen City & Frozen City Night) I will combine them into one review noting any differences between them.
This is the third in the series on a map with 2 versions I especially dislike in one mode.
I would like to note one common thing about Turrets on all Maps.
With a LRM Turret having 2LRM10s (unknown if Artemis is present), I think of these as a Medium LRM Mech.
With a Laser Turret having 2 Medium Lasers, these are slightly less firepower then even a Locust.
Given the ‘Mech equivalent strength of the two Turret types, I believe the LRM one may be one launcher size too big and should be dropped to twin LRM5s.
RIVER CITY & RIVER CITY NIGHT
Both maps have the same Lances names opposite each other (Alpha vs. Alpha, etc.) except in Conquest. Given that any pre-mades will usually be in Alpha, that means if there is one pre-made per side, they start against each other.
Now let’s get you the Visitor’s Guide. Note, some of the locations are called by Community Names I know of, others I don’t and some I just plain made up.
In this map:
Spoiler
The White outlined area is called the Citadel.
The Green areas are called Lower City. Personally, I don’t like it, if in a match and someone mentions something is in Lower City, you might get confused given how big both areas are.
The Purple area is Upper City.
The Orange area is also called Upper City by some, I prefer the Spaceport or Landing Pad to tell it apart from the Purple area.
The Tan area at the bottom, I call that Killings Bay because when a fight happens there, there is little cover and water depth so it is easy to kill or be killed in it.
The Yellow line is a bridge, I call it Vix Bridge with Vix being Latin for Hardly as in I hardly see anyone use it. Might also call it Citadel Bridge.
The Gray line between Purple and Orange is another bridge, not sure what it is called or to name it.
The River running through town is just called River though I prefer River of Lights since Light Mechs benefit from how being in the water lowers damage to them so much.
SKIRMISH MODE
Map applies to both
Spoiler
On both sides, Alpha Lances are in the 4 row, Bravo in the 3 row and Charlie in the 2 row.
Gameplay - Fighting when I play usually happens in the White outlined area. Rare moments in B2 or D4. C2 & D2 not so much.
I do not see anything that can or needs to be done for this mode & map combo. The day may come where fighting simply shifts to another location, nothing could really force combat to go elsewhere.
CONQUEST MODE
Map applies to both
Spoiler
Conquest start for Alpha and Charlie is different, Alpha is the center Lance of the Sigma team while Charlie is center on Gamma’s team. I do not think this matters much since all Lances start together but might depending on where they go and pre-mades usually being in Alpha.
Gameplay - Fighting can happen all over the map here. At start, usually Sigma goes for Kappa, Gamma goes for Epsilon, anyone goes Theta and from there it can go in any direction.
I am not alone in believing Epsilon and possibly Kappa need moving. Epsilon is too close to the map edge and the distance between Gamma and Epsilon (about 3 grid squares) is greater than Sigma to Kappa (between 2 to 2 ½ squares). Kappa is not as bad but still has close proximity to the edge compared to Gamma, Theta and Sigma.
Other than considering relocating Epsilon and Kappa to somewhere near the spots I marked in the Spoiler, nothing needs changing here.
ASSAULT MODE
River City
River City Night
Spoiler
Problems from Start - Yep, there are certain issues before a match begins and the Turret one is, to me, one of them.
RC & RCN are among the small maps yet have the most # of Turrets at 7, 2 being LRMs and 5 Lasers. A lot of Turrets for a small map, I would expect 4, maybe 5 at most with only 1 LRM type.
The locations are confusing too. The Laser Turrets are mostly on the edge in what I would call a rough Quarter-Ring Defense with the LRMs in the rear. Strangely there is one possible weakness in both bases. If a group were to safely run the map edge in the E row, they could easily get to a base dealing with the least # of Turrets.
Finally, I notice the Alpha Lances and Bases actually shift position depending on whether you fight on RC or RCN. Bravo, Charlie & Turrets are the same but that Base shift a bit, probably not much to matter. Alpha Lance in D2 also shifts their angle a bit, still not a big deal.
Yet Alpha Lance in the 4/5 row area shifts half a grid square. On RC, they start in the middle of where D4 & D5 meet; RCN sees them start at the four corner junction of D4, D5, E4 & E5.
For Skirmish & Conquest on these maps, I only gave one link for the Smurfy map because there are no differences between the two maps for those modes regarding Lance & Base positions, I gave both here so you can see for yourself and decide.
Gameplay - Typically, most combat becomes a lot of sniping with minimal to no LRM fire, locks are lost quite often, and it always happens in the White outlined area. Lately, there have been occasions where one side tries pushing with some or all forces through the Green circled area.
Even stranger, it is more often from the team starting in the 2 row. Sometimes they win and sometimes lose. But for some time now, I have never seen a push except maybe once or twice from the team starting in the 4 row. If they do try, they usually either get all killed or kill all opponents before making it near the D2 Base.
I will add on here, if you check the Round 3 videos here, you will see some interesting ways to play in Assault on these maps. Still, I think Turret changes are needed.
PERSONAL CHANGES SUGGESTIONS
Epsilon and Kappa should be moved away from the edges in Conquest.
Assault, I believe fewer Turrets and possible relocations would allow more than just limited Sniping/LRM play around the Citadel and provides a larger than the Green area for Brawling, a significant change on such a small map. Turrets needs to be lowered to 1 LRM and 3-4 Laser to encourage more attempts by teams to not only push but engage in the Citadel area in the river.
