Yeah, it can be frustrating. I’m playing mesmer, not a class ideally suited for this map. I had one game with a necro at the hammer that was quite brutal.
But it can be fun too.
Earlier I had a game where I was on the hammer and a teammate was guarding me. An opponent got her down and I noticed and came off the device just as she was being stomped. At the last second, I hit the knockback on my greatsword – overboard went the stomper to her death while my teammate rallied. That was awesome.
Then a game with a thief on the hammer who knew what she was doing. I’d get her half down, she’d stealth and position herself on the lip of the platform with the glass beneath her broken, then yank me (scorpion wire?) And down I’d plummet to my death. Went back, she did it again. I remained calm and went back yet again, and this time I was ready and she was the one who went flying. Felt satisfying.
Anyway, there’s fun to be had in any map. Go find it.
I do not mind the map in hotjoin. I´ll just spectate and go stretch my legs.
Those that have fun knocking each other over ledges, stunning people on the glass plates can do that just fine without me.
I do not think Skyhammer has any place in solo queue and will continue to hope for its removal.
Its comparable to a mini game and its enjoyable if you look at it from that perspective.
As a competetive pvp map its absurdly kitten. As a player who played competetive pvp for like 12 years in both the RTS and the MMO scene i can honestly say this is one of the worst incarnations of a pvpmap ive ever seen.
Most of my problem with the map is that it’s pretty strongly biased towards classes with lots of CC and/or stability. Control is important in all matches, but on Skyhammer it’s often the primary means of dealing with foes.
As nobody gets to choose their team for solo queue, you’ve just got to hope that your group has more of the appropriate control skills (along with stability), and that the enemy... doesn’t.
Other issue: as it plays completely differently to other maps, I’ll often swap my entire build around for it. If I’m not already sitting (doing nothing) in the Heart of the Mists, I have two minutes to get to HotM, refund and redistribute my traits, then join the game and see what the matchup is like and if my team has been discussing strategy - can finish reallocating traits or swap over weapons/amulet/runes in the match map if need be.
After the game I then have to remember to reset my PvP setup back to something more reasonable for general combat... and hope that my next matchup isn’t on Skyhammer again. If I forget to do this, might end up playing my next match with a build that doesn’t fall off the edges but can’t kill anything in a skirmish on solid ground.
We need build storage/recall, if gimmicky maps that require specific playstyles are going to exist.
i spent entire match in soloq fighting that one engi at cannon so he couldn’t use it… entire match both of us tried to knock each other off edge/through glass…. eventually engi ended on the flor but match was almost over
I like it too, in hotjoin. In other modes I can see where the criticism comes from.
But then in hotjoing I try to enjoy the moment instead of always how much glory can be achieved, or even which team wins. Even if I have only one or two good fun fights in the match then I’m happy.
And falling to your death can sometimes be quite funny depending on the situation.
People don’t like to believe it, but Skyhammer is a pretty high skill map. You really need to know how to play it to win with any consistency.
Well, there are valid complaints about the map emphasizing power differences among classes. But increasingly I agree with you. And I think it’s part of why people whine about it all the time — they don’t want to learn it.
This. Only fun I feel on skyhammer is when it does not pop up on my solo queue. Map is based on cheap deaths that are not satisfying for both players. My main spec is a fear based necromancer and I absolutely hate playing on this map because the fights are cut short if I accidentally fear someone a bit too far.
This map requires no skill to play well, you just need to spec for stability and various skill that can knockback. It is a map perfectly suited for hotjoin like capricon, but it does not have and never will have a place in competitive environment. Also it further unbalances the game because not every class has an easy access to stability/cc.
