hey basil!
a22 was better than previous versions - cutting off the upper route at A let teams stick together and focused the combat more, which is a step in the right direction. the changes at C weren't impactful, though - every time i've played this map, nobody went through the back of C anyway, and the new highground is so completely exposed (and sentries there outranged) that it's effectively useless for the defending team.
like previous versions, RED tended to cluster around the inside corner and spam down onto BLU.
last remained a BLU roll, but i'll go into that later.
for a23 i'd suggest taking a swing at major changes to the most problematic areas of the map people have been leaving feedback on for the past dozen versions - no amount of tweaking adjacent areas will improve them.
since you seem to have struggled with ideas on how to improve areas and have asked for detailed suggestions in the past, i hope the following helps.
for B, it might be worth trying a similar approach to A - cut off the rightmost flank, allowing both teams to focus their efforts closer to the cart.
adding a quicker way for BLU to rotate between the remaining flanks would also help. i suggest removing the blind dropdown, too, to simplify the layout. nobody typically uses it because they're dropping down into a long sightline with no idea if it's safe or not.
B has had issues with BLU reaching RED's forward spawnpoint. closing off this route with a door that only opens upon B's capture would help reduce spawncamping by blocking off the flank route behind RED's entire defense, and would further direct BLU players back toward the cart.
now, last. in attack/defend maps, the final point typically gives the defenders a bit of an advantage - it's a back-to-the-wall last-ditch all-out defense, scrambling to keep a win from the encroaching attacking team. defenders typically enjoy a relatively close resupply room and comfortable highground. it's the climax of the map and should be the hardest push for the attacking team.
in eruption, however, C is the most difficult point to push (when RED has time to get established); last has highground that's given to BLU team on a silver platter.
let's go over it.
BLU's exit onto their highground is covered and safe from where RED usually are. RED have to actively push up to even get a shot in.
this means BLU can choose when to engage RED. if they're not prepared, they're fine, since they have safe cover. but if RED aren't prepared...
BLU can freely harass them across the entire last part of the map, including right up to their spawn,
all from the safety of their highground where they can choose to disengage at any time. they also, through the window, get free info on what RED is doing across the whole area at any time.
BLU also get this window overlooking both routes that could be used to flank them (if RED manage to, somehow, survive traversing through the area that BLU has complete control over thanks to their highground).
after that, RED have to fight uphill to get around to the highground, completely exposed to fire from BLU players returning from spawn. said respawning BLU players can easily reestablish a hold on this highground because of how easy it is to get back up there.
the presence of ammo and health inside the highground also helps BLU to reestablish a hold very easily.
so, how would this be fixed? there are a lot of ways to explore. i propose this:
giving RED easy access to this area to dislodge BLU would encourage BLU to go elsewhere and ease most of the problems that result from this area in every prior playtest. removing the glass in the window will allow RED demomen to spam into the room, further discouraging BLU engineers. additionally, this will force combat into other areas instead of between RED spawn and this balcony, lowering the average engagement distance and generally making it more fun to play (remember, damage falloff exists).
keep in mind that these changes
won't solve everything immediately - but they'll be
a change to the areas of the map that most direly need it, and from there you'll be able to fix emerging smaller issues that were previously eclipsed.
this map has a load of potential - don't be afraid to make big changes to the core parts! looking forward to a23.
