Summary!

Skari is a small, ffa map set in the cave of Avalanche. We haven't seen any of those for a while, eh? Anyways, it supports 2-8 players, and is best suited to ffa slayer, team doubles, and oddball. Juggernaut variants are also compatible. It just doesn't work with CTF or Assault, I've tried :P

Both teams spawn at opposite sides of the cave, with immediate access to BRs, the central mancannons, and teleporters leading to the upper platforms. In the middle of the map is a network of crates, housing a Mauler and Beam Rifle as power weapons. Lower Base gets access to the Sword, whilst Upper Base get access to the Overshield.

There's not a lot of cover on this map, so use the Deployable Covers wisely! You can also find plasma grenades, plasma pistols and carbines, to use to your advantage.

Download Skari!

And now onto the show proper...

Getting bored of forging the sequel to Pronunciamiento (the map in my sig), I decided to branch away from Sandbox entirely, trying to find some other fun spaces to forge in. I tried Longshore, Foundry and Blackout, but I couldn't quite find any unique areas to forge on. Then I found Avalanche, and I knew I had to do something with that cave. That mysterious cave...

So I had a look around other cave maps, particularly Underbog, to get an idea of what to do. I liked most of them, but I always had the feeling that they weren't making the most of the unique space down here. So I decided to make that my parti; and thus I've produced a pretty damn unique map. WAFFLE OVER.

Weapons List!

Because this is such a small map, I didn't want to clog it up too much with weapons people would never use. I also had to be careful, placing weapons in accesible places that weren't hidden away. Given that walls would have ruined the atmosphere of this map, I ended up using a lot of weapon holders :P. I also noticed that frag grenades were EVERYWHERE after a few minutes of FFA, so I didn't bother adding any to spawn. Onto the list!

4 BRs -- 30 secs -- 2 spare clips -- At both bases.
3 Carbines -- 60 secs -- 2 spare clips -- At spawn hives.
2 Plasma Pistols -- 60 secs -- At both bases.
1 Mauler -- 60 secs -- 1 spare clip -- Power weapon.
1 Energy Sword -- 120 secs -- Power weapon.
1 Beam Rifle -- 120 secs -- Power weapon.

6 Plasma Grenades -- 60 secs
2 Deployable Covers -- 30 secs -- At spawn hives.
1 Overshield -- 120 secs -- Power weapon.

Another reason for the small lineup is that the AR is very suitable for this map, given the types of range involved and the difficulty of noob melees in this set up. They seem very balanced, so I didn't compensate for them by adding PRs, SMGs or the like. Every weapon here has a unique purpose and locale, so make the most of them!

Screenshots!

Unfortunately, maps in the cave of Avalanche generally aren't very photogenic, so I won't be able to point out every weapon location. Hence, I've made their general locations apparent on the weapons list. Plus, it's hard to take sweeping shots with the sword spawn where it is, so you might have to download the map to get the best visual experience. Moving on...

This screenshot gives you a good view of most of the power weapons. Mauler is equidistant to the mancannons, Beam Rifle is at the other side of the sword spawn, and the oddball spawns at the intersection between these two and the upper base spawn hive. You can reach the sword spawn by using the teleporter at lower base, which is next to the blue crates in the above screenshot. It'll take you to the top balcony.

This screenshot gives you a better view of lower base and the spawn hive. Deployable covers spawn at both spawn hives fairly quickly. You'll also get good access to a carbine and the mauler spawn here. Plus, there's meant to be a plasma pistol where the arrow is pointing. It'll be there in the game. Dual wield with the mauler for close range fun!

More indepth view of the lower base. Good defensive position, with plenty of BR ammo.

Here's that teleporter to the sword that I mentioned earlier! There's also a good view of the beam rifle spawn, another carbine sans grenades, and some respawns. Don't underestimate this area of the map, you can get a lot of defensive kills from here.

We all love the sword! This catwalk is also a fiarly good sniping spot, although it's prone to some deft grenade throws and is completely at the overshield spawn's mercy. Not the little side platform which takes you directly to the Beam Rifle.

Anyways, enough love for the lower base, there's another half of the map we've yet to see...

It's hard to get a decent overview for the upper base, so this is half of it. Since this half of the map has the height advantage, I tried to prevent them from having as much cover as the lower half. Plasma Pistol also spawns right in front of the main area.

As you can see, the upper base has just as much cover as the lower one, and the same weapons. Watch out for people shooting BRs through the indents, they can be quite hard to spot as you're going through the mancannon.

Pretty much everything else on the upper half :P There's a grav lift from the upper spawn hive, straight to the overshield teleporter and the rest of upper base. Don't forget to use to green pier to get a jump on anyone at the Beam Rifle Spawn!

And here's the overshield. This is a very defensive spot with lots of cover, so if you've got the beam rifle, make the most of it! Just don't get owned from behind. That would suck.

Anyways, that's enough from me. You'll learn a lot more about the map by giving it a runthrough. I've tested this map several times, but if there's any issues you think should be addressed, let me know.

Download Skari!

For the more adventurous custom-gamers, I'll recommend some cool gametype tweaks below...

General: Team Fiesta is always fun, and works very well on this map in particular. If you fancy some more varied, funtacular gameplay, replace the spawns and cover at lower spawn hive with a hornet, and the sword with rockets for an interesting experience. Being in a hornet on this map is harder than it looks!
Slayer: Feel free to try out team snipers, team rockets or even team magnums, this map accomodates a lot of different weapon setups. Change the mauler for a sentinel beam with 120 second respawn if you fancy increasing the skill gap or emphasising long-range gameplay.
Oddball: Give Ninjaball a spin, it works fantastically, and you'll love holding the oddball when you can fly through all sorts of new, exciting routes. Alternatively, replace the deployable covers with tripmines to thwart any foolhardy runs to the teleporters!

However, I would like to thank Insane 54, Roche 178, Cloud 2803, Chris 2393 and Ant 801 for helping me test, and make my username seem surprisngly numberless.