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Crystals Below


Story
Venture into the mines and surprise your enemy from underground. After all, they're just here to steal your riches!

Map Specifics

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Players
2

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Creep Camps
6 8 2

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Neutral Buildings
6 (+8 waygates)

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Gold Mines
6

Tactics
The specific layout of the map allows it to have 2 centers so reviving a hero at one of the two taverns can be both safer and a surprise for the enemy. The underground part is full of chokes so some army compositions might be better than other. But be careful, because the enemy might be waiting for you on the other side of the waygate.


[2021-11-17]-Version 1.0 - Uploaded

[2022-05-24]-Version 1.1
- moved underground closer
- added unbuildable terrain next to portals underground
- change in item drops for golem GM (2P+2PU ->3P) and for troll warlord (moved 1PU to geomancer)


Authors Notes
This map has been in the oven for a long time (even before Twisted Turtles). However, the concept came into fruition with the 8th melee mapping contest that gave me the much needed motivation to finish it. It's an obvious nod to the Haunted Mines battleground from Heroes of the Storm.
Previews
Contents

Crystals Below (Map)

Reviews
mafe
It appears the judges of the contest liked the general concept a lot, but had problems with some details: https://www.hiveworkshop.com/threads/hive-cup-2021-melee-mapping-contest-8-first-phase-results.336983/ Any melee mapping romantic will cetainly...

mafe

Map Reviewer
Level 24
Joined
Nov 2, 2013
Messages
869
It appears the judges of the contest liked the general concept a lot, but had problems with some details:

Any melee mapping romantic will cetainly love this map. The concept is great, irrespective of whether you have played armies of exigo or not.
The visual are also good-to-great, with the crystals/holes in the ground really enhancing the atmosphere.

With respect to gameplay, overall there isnt much explicitly wrong, but here are some points that might have done differently (iirc I mentioned some of them before either here on the hive or in discord):
1. Maybe having a tavern only on the underground level would be good incentive to see more play there, since it is possible to ignore the cave entirely (ofc it is good that players are not forced to it, too).
2. Oh hey it's the force-of-nature-creep-to-open-paths creep again. I didnt even realize this until now. But I think a lvl 3 charged from the shops could be a bit too strong. Or maybe the treants make it balanced. Not entirely sure.
3. Not actually gameplay related, but it might have been fun to have above-ground and below-ground creeps to be completely different from each other.
4. Maybe using four different colors for the waygates would be more in line with how they are "normally" used.
5. As pointed out by Dise, having 4 big consumables close to each other might not be a good idea. While it worked on TR, the creeps here are weaker, and you might even be able to buy another pot from the market.


So overall, a great map, and I was sad to see it didnt make the top 7 and wasnt played in the cup. I hope it will get more chances elsewhere (like the All-the-randoms cup), but ultimately I believe the theme is too unconventionaly to make it to top level competitive play, though in an ideal world it would rather be the other way around. Map approved.
 
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