I think the map is imbalanced toward hitscan weapons due to its openness. RG and LG are too close to each other. Theres too much emphasis on the mid area, with mega being there and both YAs not too far. There isnt RA on the map and also, no secondary items to feed on except a few health bubbles.
I imagine it would play out something like, who gets the better spawn, camps MH with both YAs, LG and RG are in reach while the other player desperately spamming rockets / grenades endlessly hoping for a couple of direct hits.
I think this map is terrible for dueling, even the worst maps like hektik, dismemberment, battleforged are much better than this.

So perhaps replace the two YA's with a RA on one side and the MH on the other, and in the middle where MH is put a YA or GA there? That would probably help re-distribute the items better and make the two side rooms more active.

I'm very interested in why players don't play some of the other maps in duel. It's always the same like 10 maps or so. And honestly, it would take years before you master 1 map. So 10 seems like enough, but it just gets so boring playing the same maps over and over.

Why not play maps like phrantic, devilish, seams+bolts (maybe too small? I don't remember how the items are spread), focal point (maybe too big for duel?), solid, three story (never tried dueling this, but seems big enough to be able to run), and trinity?

I get that people don't want to play maps that don't know because if you are playing someone with exp on that map, you will most likely get destroyed. But this just sets up the fact that the same old maps get played.

Maybe if there were ACTUAL un-ranked servers, people would be more likely to play to have fun and learn a map rather than worrying about their stats/tier/elo/ego w/e

yeah... so why not more maps being played?

With pro, you can play as much as you want aborting games, so stats are not an issue.

I think there are many issues. First, most people are unable to judge a map and rely on better players to choose. Second, those with the ability are often lacking the interest of scouting for new maps, as they are still trying to get that extra 2% knowledge on the established ones. Third, most maps are actually not good. Finally, the communication between mappers and players, the long cycles to renew maps, make the process of fixing maps hard.

The way to go is therefore to do the map right from the start, with a small focused group of good players that contribute actively. That may allow you to produce something like 'battleforged' or 'concrete palace', which still are not played, but are close enough to get there.

yeah i've said a lot of times already, mappers need to team up with players who have interest in mapping and make competitive maps together. most mappers dont seem to have a clue about good gameplay :/

What about phant, StormShadow, ShadoW, etc?

shadow's dreadful place is the only map out of 10? (for ql) that is any good for competitive play, rest are really really bad. devilish by SS is also good, dunno how many maps he has made. but the point is, mappers make a ton of maps and only a handful are suitable gameplay wise.

I see what you mean. On Leviathan I know the BS platform is a bit too small to have room for fights, the doors are blocked off, etc. and that personal teleporter in the fog is kind of weird. There's also the plethora of columns on Sorrow, etc.

I guess the problem is that people might think good vertical element, powerful items away from each other, not too big / small for intended gametype etc. is good enough for a map, but there is probably more to a map than just those things. That said, I still have a lot of fun playing InstaFreeze on many of his (larger) maps. It's possible that ShadoW's intended audience is more of a casual audience rather than a competitive one. Which is understandable, and he does at least produce some great layouts, they just need a tiny bit of tweaking. (Not removing or adding whole rooms though, otherwise it's an entirely different map) At least they're not big, overbright boxes with 5 RA's, etc.

I don't think this map has any potential no matter how you lay it out. Too open/small. It's almost impossible to not know where your opponent is at all times.

-hek +ztn

The problem is that it is possible to cover both armors leaving the player without control rather SOL.

I still want to try it in duel to see what happens though.