As per title, what’s you’re favourite and least favorite map, and same question for special condition. Just curious on general opinion.
I think my favourite map is probably the smelter. It has such a good flow and feel, and that end section is really great/frantic. It also features a guaranteed proper horde and looks darn pretty.
Least favourite is probably Hab Dreko or the Warren. I’m not a big fan of the investigation maps in general as the scanning pulls you out of the action for ages and that is frustrating. That said I do enjoy the archives so maybe it’s the general pokiness of those maps that I’m not keen on.
Favourite special condition is probably the fog. It feels so moody and can look amazing and atmospheric near bright light sources.
Least favourite is lights out, without a doubt. It’s just unplayable.
Honestly the hourglass just makes my eyes glaze over and is obnoxious to play in general. I hate that big stupid stairway that the enemies can shoot through, i hate all the ending fights, i hate a lot of the run through areas being obnoxiously tall and just being gunner and sniper gauntlets.
I think when the hourglass maps first came out they were novel because we got to go outside and it was visually different but i tend to dislike how they play strongly. I would say least favourite mission overall is toxin refinery and it’s inane ending fight where you need to constantly run between floors and most of the time the combat boils down to sitting in front of a door hitting things.
Favourite is probably a cross between complex, ascension riser and the carnival maps. There is a lot going on in most of those maps, the arenas feel varied and interesting, and they have some strong visual ending fights with some variety. A mix of close fights, long range fights, areas with close in and long range elements, overall just really well crafted.
For conditions least favourite is probably lights out just because there isn’t enough options to deal with the darkness and it feels like it it was half baked.
I really liked the modifier that limits ammo and mostly focuses melee enemies, it’s interesting to make builds around either not having ammo or having the ability to regen ammo. Rationing shots for critical moments or making builds that are not ammo reliant while leaning on other skills.
Fav maps: Consignment yard, Archivum Sycorax, Marcantile HL (minus the dull end event), Magistrati Oublitte.
Least fav maps: Refinery, Chasm Logistratum.
Fav conditions: Lights Out, Monstrous specialist. Absolute best is maelstrom with both. Killing more bosses is always fun, and weakened boss health is in a nice sweet spot (can’t blow up too fast, but fight doesn’t drag out). Light’s Out with the reduced enemy agro range you can sneak up on enemies and it’s really fun.
Least fav condition: +blitz. Have to dodge too much to avoid triple nuke Ogryns.
Love-Hate relationship condition: Shocktrooper’s Gauntlet. Spam is more annoying than difficult, but without it there isn’t even any difficulty to speak about.
I don’t think I have a favourite map by name. The names are all jumbled up in my head since I have a very visual memory and they all blend into one big reference melange. When I’ve started the map I’m 100% fine knowing where they go and what they are, but I can’t get the names straight no matter how I try.
That said, the entire map with the ascender finale is usually a good game, and I find I enjoy that most times. The section of map with the three floors of auspex scanning is definitely my least favourite section, followed by the plague tree innoculation section. Both of those sections are just irritating for me.
The modifiers on maps that affect vision are almost always a no-go for me. If I’m quickplaying landing into one of those missions and I’m not absolutely at my best, I will often back right out again to give the team the chance to find someone who can actually see. Being able to turn off that modifier, but still leave quickplay accessible, would be lovely for those of us with impaired ocular implants.
Generally speaking, I’m always happy to see The Torrent and Chasm Terminus appear. I dislike all of the Throneside maps.
Favourite condition outside of Maelstroms by a WIDE margin is definitely Hi-STG.
Least favourite is probably pox gas. It’s just a visibility modifier that makes people play like morons. (Dis)honorable mentions for vent purge and dogs.
Haha yeah I’m the same and really struggle with the names. The only reason I’ve managed to remember some are because of penances I think. They do all tend to blur into 1 sometimes, especially given the similar art styles.
The second carnival map definitely feels like it drags on. That entire outside section at the start could be removed and the map would be better for it. It feels entirely tacked on, like it wasn’t originally meant to be part of the map.
Also, the ending events for both feel pretty meh. The coliseum fight is still a snooze even with the additional back-spawns they’ve added. The part of drug lab final event where you’re breaking the vats feels scattered, for lack of a better term, then it all grinds to a halt in the chamber with the terminal repair minigame.
I hope for some smelter complex overhauls next because I really like the metalfab zone but the events are all terrible. There are some excellent quality stretches of rooms though and they look gorgeous. Power Matrix is a great romp and I can see why it formed one of the first gameplay trailers.
Hab Dreyko would be my overhaul favorite map, even with the overhaul (scanning >>> standing and doing minigames). If they leaned into the lights out condition more with a little more ambient sourcing it would recreate the darktide reveal trailer atmosphere perfectly.
Conditions are pretty conditional on teammates. I really enjoy melee no ammo, but the chances of being in there without a psyker are almost none. Same with any +blitz modifiers and a nuke ogryn preemptively waiting to remove any difficulty checks 3 times and restock in the next room. This is why I say the best game is one where your teammates aren’t keeping up with the action, in any room or modifiers. The more fighting you have to do, the more actual gameplay you are experiencing.
As for things I don’t like, I still think dogs are poorly designed and players would not do their usual routines of smacking doors or camping them if these event dogs didn’t have get up frames for their leap. This is something I hate in general considering the mutie somehow phases you to the floor in no animation whatsoever when your teammates kill him while holding you over his head, but dogs have like a 2s animation.
that’s from the outrageous need to balance out the ‘we need to win for our mats’ crowd. what I wouldn’t give for them to do a cataclysm-style twist of events on T5, and just give T4 the same amount of rewards as T5. the sheer overwhelming odds from point A to point B should be the reward, not like 20 minutes of fun and 10 minutes of filler. if I wasn’t concerned about overall level I would literally leave most games at the last airlock…for a while I was doing that as ogryn, time to go find another game.
I’ve played like crazy since release, yet I don’t know a single map by name. The names are so weird and hard to remember, and whether QP or Maelstrom it’s not like you get to choose anyway. Speaking of that Maelstrom, the only thing the lobby even shows is some random II-III-X-IIII-XI-IV whatevers so you have to either check it in the mission selector or after in the game.
I only temporarily learned some of the names and finally realized what the whole “Throneside” etc. means when working some of the penances.
The one exception is Hab Dreyko as the only map I used to avoid like the plague: I usually play psykers & mostly ranged, and that map has nothing but tight corridors and “enemies spawn 360 degrees around you” bs everywhere. The worst part ofc. was the finale which for a long time was completely overtuned. So it was always the same story of clutching like crazy & rezzing my team over and over while being forced to desperately try and solo the objectives with infinite and dense mobs all over me at all times on a ranged build… often for 10+ minutes in a row.
But my favorites are easily the desert maps. Lots of light and it looks nice, warm & comfy (as opposed to the usual cold steel city interior thing). They also have tons of open spaces & plenty of ways to position and handle the enemies with very few spots where they just spawn on top of you or behind you all the time.
Edit: Forgot to add that the new reworked Hab Dreyko finale is amazing! Not only is it completely unique and I love that horroresque atmosphere there. But changing the decryption thing to a centralized location and making the area smaller was an ingenious solution to make sure ppl stayed together and actually focused on the objective together, as opposed to randomly spreading out & dying like before. Still not a fan of the tight corridors but now I like the finale so much it’s actually a fun map overall!
Edit 2: Also forgot about the mod. Favorite HISTG and on Maelstrom the extra (weak) bosses or extra elites. Least favorite lights out & for Mael the nurgle blessing (green glowies / immune to CC), but in both cases I do like them in moderate doses and would definitely not remove them given the choice. My main problem with lights out is how I always use QP and there’s no way to change your gear on joining an ongoing mission. So it’s always the same experience of loading 30s into “oh you brought your sniping build or wanted a chill routine experience? nah you’re gonna be doing melee only with a build not designed for it have fun!”, then clicking leave and just wasting my time. Dark mode also exacerbates the sound issues. A lot harder to deal with soundless maulers & crushers when you literally can’t even see them until they’re right behind you.
Magistrati Oubliette holds a special place for me, mostly because it’s shorter and not filled with a bunch of unnecessary fluff. It’s entirely subjective of course, but I can play that mission a dozen times over and still not tire of it. For more objective criteria though, I would nominate Chasm Station Logistratum, especially because of the well-designed end event.
Worst map is probably Silo Cluster. The first 20% of that map is just a mess.
Favorite condition is lights out by far. It’s the thing that has the most impact on how the mission is actually played. I wish we could have more modular maps where this (and other conditions) would show up randomly in certain sections.
Least favorite is monstrous. Sorry, but spawning 40 monstrosities in a game gets awfully stale awfully fast, especially since there are only three to choose from. After beast of nurgle no. 15, I’ve more than had my fill. There’s not enough variety to support a modifier like this IMHO. It’s just monotonous and time consuming.
Yeah dogs hit you for corruption on impact without the shield of gold toughness and can move allies out of the way more forcefully than a mutie can. They also have long get up animations where in specialists circus modes you can be climbing to your feet and then entangled in a net all with zero ability to input. Mutie meanwhile is a joke.
Nah, that they deliberately make the end sections easy so people don’t complain about losing there. Its conspiracy fact as far as I’m concerned - they made Fort Brindlesmirch’s cannon event on Legend decent on one update, and that change was reverted almost immediately from complaining. On what’s like the shortest level besides Bell.
Hopefully the slow roll out of tox gas (twins, then later the bomber) means we’re about to get the tox ogryn monstrosity. I really need to see his grotesque visage in game and whatever he’s spewing out of his cannon-hand.
The names are so weird and hard to remember, and whether QP or Maelstrom it’s not like you get to choose anyway. Speaking of that Maelstrom, the only thing the lobby even shows is some random II-III-X-IIII-XI-IV whatevers so you have to either check it in the mission selector or after in the game.