I'm not quite sure what in the new patch is causing problems with the Campaign map on RTS mode for me. Skirmish mode works fine, and just now I had a few good matches in a 2v2 campaign. I'll have to keep trying to help Larian find a common factor with what's wrong.
I haven’t been able to play many RTS matches because of crashing, but even from my little playtime, the campaign AI seems much better. Part of that is the instant research, it’s getting different units that it didn’t used to before, but the AI seems better at forming groups for attack or defense, using cards appropriately . I also haven’t noticed it cheating and doing other research during the RTS missions.
With the change to let Shamans and Warlocks travel over water, it changes the composition of the sea forces: they’re now much more menacing, without really changing the existing sea units at all. Imagine Shamans, cloaked by Warlocks closing in on an enemy fleet, the nemerging and then charming the Ironclads, making them sink their own Juggernauts.
Suddenly Ironclads are not the only counter to Ironclads – Warlocks can’t be targeted by the torpedoes of the Ironclads. Unfortunately, neither can they shoot back (bug!). But they have two other skills that should be able to deal with Ironclads pretty well.
Minor Thing: Shamans and Warlocks can’t be picked up or dropped off at sea. This might be a consequence of the Transport AI that can’t be coded around, though. This may be working as intended, but it’s so small that it may not be worth worrying about.
Bug: I launched a sea invasion of a country. It started out well, but I failed to maintain production, and was overwhelmed, so I was forced to retreat (my biggest weakness in Starcraft 2 multiplayer. All that money in the bank is completely worthless until converted to troops). Interestingly enough, there were several survivors, including two transports. Unfortunately, none of my “surviving” units were loaded onto the transports, so only the two empty transports were able to survive and retreat. I can understand if no transports survived, or if not all the units could fit on the transports, but if ships survive and units survive, there’s got to be some way to get units onto ships. Other than that, I like the retreating mechanic.
