Intro’s are a bore, but bear with me for just a few moments. On the pages in this site, you can find many points of interest if you play Descent 1, Descent 2, or Descent 3. I am currently a member of the Wildcards Empire, where I serve in several capacities. I am the Flight Training Center Commander and an advisor to the Command Team. This site, more than anything else, is about my role as a lead trainer for the Wildcards. Feel free to start with any link, but if you are a Pyro pilot, I would recommend starting with the bookmark labeled Tao.
What is Tao? Many Eastern philosophers have ruminated on this for hundreds of years. I wouldn’t presume to second guess their many opinions and observations. I am only seeking to apply their basic philosophy to playing games online, against human opponents. Keep in mind as you browse this site that while I am not a philosopher or even one of the best pilots, there is something here that you may learn from my experiences.
If you have fun here, learn something new, or catch me in a grievous error, feel free to tell me about it. I also am constantly looking to expand my section on Tao and if you submit an insight that I can share, I’ll happily give you credit when I post it on my page.
And never forget…every single pilot with more than a passing familiarity with Descent started at the same place as you–at the bottom of the ladder statistics.
Tao is an eastern philosophy, encompassing the whole of the mind, body and soul. If you are to listen, not only with your mind, but with your heart to what you find in here, you may find enlightenment. The closest literal definition to Tao is, ‘The way’. This refers to the path you follow through life. In this case, it is the way of Descent.
Apply the lessons you find here to your game play. Do not feel that if you don’t play Descent, that there are not truths for you to learn here. Many of the tactics explained are viable for other games.
If this is your first time here, take a few moments to conduct an exercise with me. First, scroll the screen so that you may see all of the following section:
- Breath in. Let your lungs fill with air. Count to 5 as you do this.
- Hold your breath. Count to 10.
- Let it all out, but SLOWLY. As slow as you possibly can. While letting it out, meditate on ONE skill you want to learn, or one mistake. How can you accomplish it? What did you do wrong last time you played? Was it preventable?
Repeat the breathing exercise for 10 repetitions, focusing on strengths and weaknesses in your game. You should feel better. You should feel relaxed and in a better state to learn what I will show you. If you need more time, please take it. The only mistake you can make at this point is rushing in before you are ready to begin. No one will loose a limb over it, but you will find the information here easier to comprehend if you take the time now to prepare…
I hope you have come with an open mind. Certain passages in the following pages will speak to you. Some passages may make no sense at all. Nearly every passage will have more than one meaning. Many people will feel the desire to open the first page, and go step by step through all of the lessons and pages that follow. Others would prefer to only reference one area at a time. Certainly, all of these things are possible. I only ask that if you do find the information useful, that you pass on what you learn to the next pilot you meet that could use some assistance.
Now that you have prepared yourself, you are ready to begin. Your mind should be clear of distractions and focused on the game ahead. No matter how good you are, you can always learn something new about yourself and the way you play. Most everything you find in here is dedicated to the principle of teaching and training you to be a better pilot. There are tools here even the most experienced pilots can benefit from in their games. Use the information presented here and you will go far.
I can only show you the door, you must choose to walk through it. (The Matrix)
If you are the trainer:
- Attempt to illustrate points to the best of your ability.
- Start with the most basic skills, even with advanced pilots. You never know if there was a gap in their earlier training.
- Pace yourself and your student. You must remember that you did not learn how to play Descent overnight. Descent, no matter the version, is the most complex and challenging of all of the first person shooters on the market. (Yeah Quaker’s and Lifer’s and everyone else, you want a real challenge? Play the mother of first person shooters and tell me this isn’t the hardest thing you’ve ever done. /END SERMON).
- Do not berate or act in an unkind manner towards your student. Remember, once you were a student of the game as well.
- Agree to offer everything you know to make the student the best he or she can be (your student will reflect YOUR skill).
- Spend time playing with the student, as well as training. You can not get a handle on how well they are learning a technique until they have tested it in real situations.
- If you can not seem to illustrate a point to the student in a way that makes sense to him or her, do not feel slighted. Speak with another person with equal or better skills and ask them to illustrate and explain the problem area. Not every trainer uses the same exact method to teach, and not every student learns in the same way.
If you are the student:
- Listen to and practice what the trainer illustrates.
- Practice all topics with and without opponents, with and without your trainer.
- Keep your chin up and your guns hot. If you get discouraged, that’s understandable. If you quit, then you have no one to blame but yourself.
- Respect your teacher and do not waste their time.
- Ask questions when you do not understand a technique. Do not leave a training session until you are sure of what you have learned.
- Thank your trainer after every lesson.
- Pass on what you have learned. Become a trainer!
Closing thought If you are misunderstood, you teach nothing but frustration.
Flight: Move as if you and the level are one.
Even the very best pilot gets hung up on the corner of a wall or a ledge. Don’t be discouraged if it is happening to you too. By practicing the exercises here, and listening to what I have to say, you will overcome it.
The material you see here, on this page, is a FUNDAMENTAL to all game play. Do not think that you will not see this material again. You will. This is the most basic component of multi-play. It is, when all and said and done, what 90% of your game is all about. You do not simply jump from dogfight to dogfight.
Movement does have an opposite. While I will not go into it at this time, I will state that the opposite of movement, does, at times, have its advantages. For now though, your lesson revolves around the finer points of movement.
When you move, remember to limit the noises you make. Banging into walls not only fills your speakers with a loud ‘thunk’…it also fills your opponents speakers with the same sound, only directionally positioned to help them locate you.
When you move, do not fail to look at everything around you. Focus only on your goal (a door, a branching in the tunnel, a sign on the wall) and you will lose your orientation. More importantly, tunneling sets you up for the easy kill. While moving, look around you. Spin your ship slightly, as you progress, to give you the most advantageous angle for viewing the entrances and exits to the area you are in. Check your rear view constantly, looking for others who wish to move behind you.
When you transition, from one area to another, do so quickly and fluidly. Hesitating in a door way only frames your form for an easier kill.
Do not make a habit of using walls as your guide. If you move, with a floor, wall, or ceiling touching your ship, you have limited yourself and where you can move when attacked. You are also, inadvertently, placing yourself in harms way if someone has an ‘area effect’ weapon. Instead, seek to distance yourself from such limiting factors.
Practice rapid changes in direction. Practice flying in reverse. Practice flying upside-down…remember, in the mines, down is only a perception of yours, since there is no gravity.
My last word on movement, before the lesson, is specific to Descent. Other multi-player games do not use this component in their play, to the best of my knowledge.
The is a truth to movement that many new players to Descent fail to grasp. Chording is FASTER than not chording. But what is chording? Chording, in essence, is forcing your ship off the straight path. By moving in 2 or even three directions at once, your ship will travel faster. Would you like the breakdown?
1-Regular ship speed, straight line, no chording.
1.4-Chording in 2 directions (ie foward and sliding left)
1.7-Chording in 3 directions (ie foward, sliding left, and sliding up)
2-Ship speed using the afterburner.
Yes, you may travel almost as fast as someone using the afterburner by chording in 3 directions. Learn to chord at ALL times. If you aren’t chording, then you are not moving. You are a target, and other pilots will take advantage of your inability to flow through a level.
Exercise 1
Training to move is a combination of MANY factors. Focusing on the most important aspect, one could lose sight of others. Do not lose your focus in this exercise. Load a multi-player level in single player mode. Any level will do for the moment, but I recommend one of the many Minervas. The Minerva levels, in D2, all adhere to some very basic level design theories and offer an excellent place to begin your journey. Make sure you go to the items selection screen, and uncheck afterburners as you won’t be needing them (this applies to all of the exercises in this lesson).
Suggestion: You should attempt this exercise in all versions of Descent that you play. The principle is the same, yet in D1 there is no afterburner at all and in D3 you start with an afterburner as a permanent part of your ship & the physics/flight model is very different from the other two Descents.
Before you proceed, make sure you are comfortable.
Now, if you are familiar with the principles of chording, begin to move through the level. Move to the main room. Move using only chording, in a circular pattern around the room and the nearest side tunnel (the one with no doors). As you become more familiar with the layout of the level, don’t hesitate to branch out. Focus on fluid transitions from one area to another, while also focusing on not banging into walls and getting hung-up on corners.
Exercise 2
Expand your activities. Select other levels that are commonly played, and practice chording in them as well. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
Exercise 3
Once you feel comfortable with your new found skills, ask a friend to or two to join you in a level. Pick someone to be the leader, and follow that person around the level. NO AFTERBURNERS ALLOWED! Make sure you all take turns being the leader. For the first few attempts, keep it simple. As you get more comfortable with the idea of chording, make the paths you take more contorted. Use rapid changes in direction and never use the same path twice. Try to ‘shake-off’ your friends in the level. Oh…one last thing, try to refrain from shooting at the guy in front of you, because you’ll get your turn at the head of the line soon enough. :)
Evasion: To survive, you must avoid attacks.
Think back. How many times have you executed the perfect coup de grace to an opponent, only to be hit by a missile they fired off a second before dying?
How many times have you lost track of one of your opponents, only to have him or her hit you from behind?
To achieve your goal, you must avoid attacks. Attacks against you, from in front, the sides, or behind. When your enemy fires, make sure he’s firing where you are at…not where you are going to be.
Eliminate predictability on your part. Do not fly in patterns, whether engaged with an enemy or while moving through the level. Double back to check what is coming behind you. Use the environment to shield your actions and you ship, from your opponents. At all costs, do not get yourself boxed into a position from which there is no escape (if you think that door will open fast enough, think again).
You should be constantly moving. That is an unwritten law of multi-play. But you must also be constantly dodging. Whether in a dog fight or just moving across an open area, do not sit still, or fly in the same path for more than a few moments.
Exercise 1
Create a dummy .plr file for you to use. The reason I don’t want you using your regular .plr file will become apparent all too soon.
Using the dummy .plr file, enter a game. Now, listen to me very carefully. You will not shoot primary weapons. You will not secondary weapons. You will not deploy countermeasures.
I hear you now, “But master, what will I do?”
And my answer to you is, “Grasshopper, before you may fight, you must learn to avoid fighting. You must learn to dodge. You must learn to move, without hesitation, into and successfully out of frays. You must learn to be that which is unattainable in your current state. You must become a ghost to your opponent.”
How long should you practice this exercise? As long as it takes. Repeat this exercise until it becomes second nature to the way you fly. As important as it is to deal out death on the wing, it is more important to avoid it. Avoiding allows you time to make the other person to make a mistake.
Oh, and simply because you may not shoot at enemies, does not mean you should not try to track them as if you could. Once you are confident you can avoid death, adding the aspect of dealing it out will become easier if you can keep your enemy in your sights. Experts at this type of non-combat should be able to not only keep their opponents within their sights. They should be able to stay on the ‘6’ of the enemy that they are avoiding. When you can do this, you can stop practicing this exercise.
Closing
Imagine how frustrated pilots will be when you join a game and you frustrate their best efforts to finish you off. If that doesn’t put a smile on your face, think of it another way. Rising quickly in the ranking system for PXO requires you to have a high kill to death ratio. This idea may be attractive to you, and if so I can guarantee that the harder you make it for you opponent to take you out, the faster you will advance.
More Practices: Demos.
By now, you should know how to tri-cord, dodge, and aim. Your configuration should be both comfortable and second nature. Weapons preferences should be set and your knowledge of how to use them should be complete.
What’s next? Work on your flying skills. Always, it comes down to this. If you can’t acquire targets in your reticle, if you can’t fly silently, or if you constantly make weapons changes in the middle of the game, you’re going to get destroyed.
So, let’s revisit your skills as a pilot in it’s purest sense. Now is your time to show yourself what you’ve learned. Pair up with someone and try this exercise…
Exercise 1
Start a level after having found an accomplice. Your opponent should hopefully be someone that is better at flying than you are, PARTICULARLY in the dog fighting department. Both of you should spend a few moments gathering weapons, then come to a central area of the level. Ask your opponent to begin recording. Once he’s set, have yourselves a good old fashioned dogfight. When you (or hopefully) your opponent is eliminated, stop the recording. Name it whatever you like, but I recommend adding the number 1 to it. (Note: You can and should record demo’s as well, it will help with the next step).
Now, repeat the process as outlined above. Number each demo a consecutive number. Don’t worry about the demo’s other than to make sure they’re being recorded. Once you feel you have enough (at least 5, preferably more), exit the game. Download the demo’s and start to examine them.
Begin with reviewing them all, in order. Right off the bat, you should begin to get a feel for what is happening in the game. Count how many times you loose your target, get stuck in a corner or wall, run out of ammo, and how often you shoot too far behind your opponent to do any good. Look for patterns in your flying and your opponents movements. Find out if you move too erratically to be hit consistently by your opponent, or if you simply seem to be a plasma magnet.
Cont.
What did you learn? Did you nearly always dodge in the same direction from your opponent? Did you hug the walls or try to control the room from the center? Did you hit your opponent enough, or did you seem to only hit the walls where he was 3 seconds ago? Analyzing your own flying is an invaluable tool. It can help you to not only see what you did wrong, but also what you’re doing right. Don’t pass on a chance to record a demo or have a friend do it for you.
As you view your demo’s, you’ll begin to notice instances where you made fatal errors. More often than not, these errors are missed opportunities to get behind your opponent. You may believe that all of the skills in dog fighting relate to accuracy or predictability or any of a 100 other possibilities. The true is, position is over half of the dog fight. You must constantly jockey for position over your opponent. You can’t render his attacks useless or effectively fight him until you learn this.
Exercise 2
After having reviewed the demo’s and you have had a chance to absorb them, play the same person in the same level. Record no demo’s, just work on dog fighting. Find your opponent and try to apply one or two techniques that you discovered while looking at the demo’s. Don’t try to do them all, just work on a couple until you feel comfortable using them. Try this on several occasions. Find new opponents to try this with. As you begin to broaden your search, play players that are always >< that much better than you. Refine your skills…then come back for another demo session.
Cont.
Using the recording device in a game should open up new doors to you as a pilot. As you begin to see how others move and how you move, you’ll see how to counter most attacks with one of your own. The ultimate goal of this lesson is to learn how to move in such a way that you’re opponent both does not expect and also can’t be countered easily. Now, go play :)
‘The enemy gate is down’ ~Ender’s Game
Just as position is important in a dog fight, so is this realization. “The enemy gate is down,” is a quote from a book that some of you may find familiar, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. The premise behind this statement is in a zero-G environment, there is no such thing as a floor or a ceiling. Only your perception of a level makes it seem like there is one. Truth is, once you get over your unease, you should be able to fly just as effectively ‘upside down’ as ‘right side up’. Don’t believe me? Not sure what I’m talking about? Try this exercise…
Exercise 1
Load a level, any level. Invert your ship and fly. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Cont.
In a zero-G environment such as Descent, the only rule that differentiates between up and down is the orientation of your ship when it’s spawned. Stop thinking linearly and you will accomplish what this lesson has to offer you.
The application of this lesson in the mines is somewhat disorienting, especially for pilots that don’t have a lot of flight time under their belts. The sooner you get over it though, the sooner you will realize the advantage of being able to attack from any angle. From this point on, if you haven’t already done so, you should also turn off ‘Auto-Leveling’. This feature is more of a handicap for players new to the world of Descent, and is not used by a single expert of the game. “But master, how do I fly with auto-leveling off? I keep running into the walls and losing sight of my goal the second I start to twist…” Ah, grasshopper, you must do the following to get over this apprehension of yours, it is misplaced. Exercise 2
Turn off auto-leveling. Make sure your stick or control device supports the ‘Twist’ feature necessary to banking your ship of choice. Then, load up a level and spend at least a half an hour in there. Try levels you are more familiar with first, and stay away from levels that are more vertical than horizontal or have features that serve as a major impediment (twisting tunnels).
Now, this is one thing I can not stress enough. Spend a few weeks practicing this way. Gradually increase the amount of time spent in levels without this handicap turned on. Spend at least your first couple of days outside of multiplayer games until you start to learn to control your wrist better. You will probably overcompensate a tremendous amount the first few times you fly without auto-leveling engaged. Don’t worry though, this will be overcome as you play and practice more. Two weeks is the absolute minimum you will spend before you start to control your Pyro properly without auto-leveling, and don’t be surprised if it takes a month or more to truly feel comfortable with this new method of flying.
Cont.
We’ve learned some important principles this lesson. One, there is no wrong way to orient your ship and two, you have greater control over your Pyro if you turn off auto-leveling. The latter of the two was something I didn’t figure out until it came up in casual conversation MONTHS after I started playing Descent. Don’t make the same mistake I did, learn this technique as early as possible.
The Moth
To preface this discussion, envision yourself going against another pilot. The two of you are alone in the mine…or at least in the section you are in. The room you are dog fighting in is large, it could be the big room in Minerva or one of the energy rooms in Dissent. It matters not.
You, the pilot, decide that you have had enough. Maybe you need more energy. Maybe you think you can bait your opponent. Or actually, you’re probably just trying to run away for a second to get him to forget about you.
You duck around the corner.
You pause…hoping the other pilot leaves, or merely turns his back…
You wait until no one is firing, then rushing out…
…you see your prey…
…and you die…
Why? What happened to you? How’d he figure you out?
YOU MOTHED!
The other pilot was more patient. Truth is, he probably didn’t move from the spot you last saw him. And he probably didn’t have to move a muscle when he punctured your ship with a mass driver round. What lesson can be learned here?
Exercise 1
Beating the Moth out of you will require A LOT of mental preparation. First, you must be willing to let go. If you leave a conflict, turning around and going back into it from the direction you left is one of the most suicidal things you can do in your ship. I know it’s hard to stop. I know you want to pound in your opponent’s head for scraping up your nice new paint job ;). I also know, you will not get better if you can’t do the very next instruction.
Practice disengaging from fights. And no, it isn’t the same as running from them in the first place. To unlearn the tendency to moth, you must practice engaging an enemy, then disengaging and totally leaving him behind.
Secondly, you must look for this behavior in others. Watch for people who disengage from a fight (by turning a corner or leaving a room) and immediately seek to return to the battle they left. Mark these pilots well. If you can see the problem, you are that much closer to fixing the error. As an added benefit, once you have identified this behavior in a pilot, it makes it that much easier to destroy him.
Lastly, learn that there are choke points in EVERY level. Ok, I hear you…the Master went off the deep end again. No, be patient and you will see I am no more insane than I was yesterday. I am still talking about not Mothing. One of the ways you can avoid being a Moth is also to avoid running into these choke points when you disengage from a fight. If you get caught in one, say your prayers. If you aren’t sure what makes a good chokepoint…figure out where you die the most when you are playing. If you find even as much as a third of the time it is in the same location, then by all accounts that’s probably a chokepoint…or at least a VERY highly trafficked area of the mine.
Eliminate The Predictability in your play.
Predictability is just as deadly as Mothing. I’ve been playing Descent, off and on for three years. You know what?
I still get told that I’m terribly predictable.
No matter what you do, if you have been playing for less than 6 months (and for many of you longer) you are STILL predictable. How do you eliminate your predictability factor?
The hardest step in this phase, is to recognize when you are repeating yourself. It is extremely easy to fall into a rut if you play the same levels day in and day out. Recognize when you are getting caught in the same attacks, barreling through the same doors into the same mines…over and over again.
Having found your actions to be repetitious and predictable, seek new ways of doing what you did before. Be innovative with your flying style. Resting on your laurels and being unwilling to change is what led you here.
Techniques to try
Double and even Triple back…
Try new levels…
Flare doors you don’t intend to go through…
Play against someone new, as often as possible…
Focus on the differences between playing only one person and multiple opponents…
Exercise 1
This is going to be brief and to the point. Find someone who’s not just better than you. Find someone who is GREAT at Descent. Invite them to a one-on-one. Play your best game, and try as many strategies and patterns as possible against them. When the game is finished and before leaving the level ask them if they can give you a pointer. What did they see wrong? Was your play predictable, erratic, or something else? Ask them (nicely) to show you any concept you don’t immediately grasp.
Repeat this process. Thank everyone you play for their time and advice. The main lesson here is, you will hopefully find a mentor. Someone who’s willing to play with you a few more times and help you develop your game to another level. I make no claims about this being easy, as many of the best players don’t teach as much as they should. I think, and I could be really wrong here, that if they haven’t heard of you, they may feel that you aren’t ready to be taught. There are a few pilots that will happily prove me wrong.
Your job is to find just one. If you haven’t done so-and you are a beginner pilot with a clan that offers help-sign up with an instructor now. This is definitely the first step in the right direction.
Getting some bang for you buck
{Trainer Note: The next 2 lessons are meant to be taught in tandem. While the exercises are important to perform, mixing primary and secondary weapons in training is not only possible, it is highly recommended. Be sure that students realize that there is no one weapon that is perfect for every situation. Adaptability is the hallmark of a great Descent pilot.}
Now is the time for me to explain something to you. ALL of the previous lessons were about defense. If you haven’t yet realized that, then you should go back to the first lesson and start over. In fact, you should (I’m speaking as a trainer now) take the time to revisit the earlier lessons when you can. Though you may feel that you can hold you own, I can assure you that there are still techniques you can refine, and all of them are in the previous lessons.
To be proficient, you must know EVERY weapon’s strength and weakness. You need to know what to use for short range, what to use for long range, and how to close or open the distance between you and your opponent. You probably already know that different weapons have different behaviors. Focusing only on Primary Weapons, let me lay it all down for you…
Lasers (Up to level 4) + Spread Gun: If you are cornered, or you have the opportunity to attack without reprisal…use them. Otherwise, you should be looking for more powerful armament. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. BTW, the Spread gun is watered down in D2, and totally absent in D3. Try using it in D1, you may be pleased with the results.
Vulcan (Projectile): This little sweetheart is under used. Very few multi-player levels even carry it, but as far as sniping goes…this is the precursor to the mass driver. It’s VERY quiet compared to other weapons, the ammunition is invisible to your opponent, and it hits ‘instantly’. Underestimating someone with one of these is a serious mistake, especially if they have a fair amount of distance separating you.
Super Lasers: One of the more powerful primary weapons. While the shots can travel nearly any distance, at long ranges they are reasonably simple to dodge. Use them in tight dogfighting levels for the best effect.
Gauss (Projectile): This gem is very difficult for many to use effectively. I’m not sure why, but if I’m any indication, targets seem to move faster than I can track them at a distance. As far as attacking power is concerned, it’s rate of fire is formidable, as is it’s ability to do splash damage. Look to use this in long range situations paired with mercury missiles.
Plasma: The mainstay of D2 dogfights. Using this at a distance is nearly as easy to dodge as the lasers. But up close and personal, its rate of fire combined with the green orbs (everybody loves green) make it a deadly addition to the arsenal. Do not over rely on this weapon, be creative enough know that it is largely ineffectual at longer ranges and tends to bleed your energy supply quickly.
Phoenix: Not only a ship type in D3, but also a primary weapon in D2. This gun is not normally seen in Dogfight levels (it is fairly common in a Shaker levels). It’s essentially a plasma gun that shoots ricocheting shots. Be careful with it, it consumes energy at an alarming rate and rebounding shots can damage your ship as well as your opponent’s ship.
Helix: A deadly weapon found in D2 shaker levels. It is a Spreadfire gun on steroids, and as such uses up energy at a fast rate. This weapon doesn’t do a terrific amount of damage per hit, BUT it does fill a room. Its not a bad gun to use against multiple combatants, so long as their attention is focused on each other instead of you.
Fusion: Purple Haze, deadly in D1 and D3. This gun packs a serious wallop. Barely charged and flying in a Magnum, you can do 48 points of damage to a Phoenix. The technique for this gun leaves many pilots confused. You must not concern yourself with leading your target. Instead, predict where they will be and shoot there…a subtle difference, but that’s how it works. You can also build your charge up and attempt to ram ships, which causes them to disintegrate. Oh, this gun makes a great shoot it and forget it weapon. Occasionally, shoot it down the length of a hallway and run away…
Napalm: Flame thrower. Getting hit with this does not seem to make an opponent burn as long as a shot from the Napalm missile. All the same, if this is the best weapon your opponent has, try to create some space between the two of you…pronto.
Mass Driver (Projectile): A very deadly gun at any range. An experience Pyro pilot with penchant for using this bad boy will puncture your ship over and over again. You must erase predictability from your actions and be constantly on the move to counter this. Once you get used to the gun, you’ll learn the amount of time the gun takes to reload. Use that to your advantage and juke at the moment your opponent is ready to shoot again!
EMD: Overrated. Why? As homing weapons go, it’s not capable of making the types of turns that missiles can. Sure, it works great against newbies. But it’s massive energy consumption really doesn’t balance out with it’s ability to do damage. If you do use this gun…do so SPARINGLY.
Microwave: An excellent D3 primary weapon-especially when flying the Black Pyro. Getting hit by this is reminiscent of the Gauss in D2. Your screen shakes…you lose control…you get drillesd a few more times and die. If you are on the receiving end of this gun, keep your distance or place an object between you and your opponent as quickly as possible.
Omega: The limited range of this weapon offsets, to some extent, it’s ability to peel the shields off of your enemies. While it is commonly disallowed in D2 multiplayer levels due to a huge lag problem, D3 breathed new life into this weapon. Do not engage pilots at close range that have this weapon selected.
Alright, now that you’ve been briefed on the primary weapon types, I want you to run some drills with them. Proceed to the next exercise…
Exercise 1
Load a multiplayer level using the New Game option. Move around the level, collecting all available primary weapons. Pick a large room and place a marker in the center (you can place two in the room, or move elsewhere and place another marker if you like). Practice strafing the marker with any of the primary weapons. Practice sliding around it, above it, and below it, constantly keeping it in your sites and shooting through it. This may seem like a waste of time, but you are learning a few skills.
You are learning how to focus not only on an opponent, but also on your environment. While you are moving around the marker, one of your main objectives should be to avoid running into walls and other solid areas of the level. Not only does doing so interrupt your concentration on the target, it also slows you down so that an ‘opponent’ could attack you in a stationary position. Aside from that, you’re also learning the following
Instinctually, how much firing time you have before your weapon runs dry (no more energy or projectiles). Yes, you have read-outs that tell you that, but how many of you actually are looking at them at the same time you are targeting and attacking the enemy? You’ll be a better pilot for knowing how long it takes to run your plasma gun dry when you start with a full charge. (Note: Don’t forget, if you’re using the afterburner alot, this will accelerate your drain time for energy weapons). How to visualize shooting ‘through’ a target. Huh? What? Are you suddenly wondering what I’m talking about again? Let me illustrate. When you hit a nail on the head with a hammer, do you intend to only strike the head, or do you intend to sink the nail? The same principle should hold true to your attacks. If you are going to commit to an attack in Descent, seek to pulverize your opponent’s ship. By visualizing the act of shooting ‘through’ your opponent, you are also following through with you attack. I do realize the marker doesn’t move, but that is more of a help than hindrance in learning the last point. You are learning to coordinate your attack with movement. While shooting at the target, slide around it. If all you are doing is trying to pick at it while remaining stationary, you aren’t learning anything of value. Instead, slide in every direction around the target. Use what controls you have to bank with your slides. Soon, attacking in circles and maintaining a crosshair on the target will become second nature to you. The last exercise was very simplistic in design. Yet even the best pilots can draw something new from the exercise. Once you feel 100% sure that the marker you were shooting at is dead, move along to the next exercise.
Exercise 2
Join a game. Any open game will do fine. Choose 1 weapon to use as your primary, and use it exclusively. Whether the Fusion in D1, the Gauss in D2, or the Mass Driver in D3, I want you to spend at least a half an hour using just this weapon. If you don’t feel proficient right away, that’s fine.
Next, leave the game and enter another. Select the same weapon again. Repeat this process until you know how to aim with the Gauss and predict your opponent’s next move with the Fusion. Continue repeating this process, changing your primary weapon preference as soon as you begin to feel comfortable with it. Don’t feel you can spend to much time perfecting your skill with the plasma gun in D2. Don’t take your skill for granted. Aiming is hard, leading is harder, and switching between weapons with different lead times is something in an altogether different league.
Exercise 3
Believe it or not, with Descent 1 and 2, weapon selection was dependent greatly upon lag, personal preference, and availability of a particular weapon in a level. With the advent of Descent 3, lag became a minor inconvenience, yet Outrage decided to throw in a new loop to the equation. You are allowed to pilot 3 different ships (4 if you purchased Mercenaries), and each one has special limitations and powers when combined with the weapons available in a level. I mentioned that a Magnum is very tough to stop when it has the Fusion Cannon. I glossed over the Black Pyro’s advantage with the Microwave Gun. Those are just two of the ships available to you. With the Phoenix, many people prefer the Mass Driver. With the regular Pyro, I haven’t seen a particular preference for one weapon, but we all must remember that the Pyro is the ‘balanced’ ship of the game.
Cont.
You’ve learned a lot in this lesson. Many of the skills exhibited by the great pilots you fly against online were learned doing these very same exercises, over and over again until they became second nature. There is a truth to all of this information…practice. In the first exercise, whether you are new to Descent or you have been playing it for years, you should come back and practice it again from time to time. More experienced pilots may figure out a new attack pattern to try. Less experienced pilots should benefit from learning how to coordinate attacks. None of these lessons are optional, if you want to succeed. Practice them any time you get bored with the chat rooms or you don’t feel like playing with anyone in a game.
Things that make you go BOOM!
{Trainer Note: The lessons on primary and secondary weapons are meant to be taught in tandem. While the exercises are important to perform, mixing primary and secondary weapons in training is not only possible, it is highly recommended. Be sure that students realize that there is no one weapon that is perfect for every situation. Adaptability is the hallmark of a great Descent pilot.}
To be proficient, you must know EVERY weapon’s strength and weakness. We have already examined the basics behind the Primary Weapons in Descent. As for Secondary Weapons, you also need to know what to use for short range, what to use for long range, and how to close or open the distance between you and your opponent. You probably already know that different missiles have different behaviors. Focusing only on Secondary Weapons and Counter-Measures, let me lay it all down for you…
…Unless otherwise noted, the missiles here are in all three Descents, to my knowledge.
Concussion: Just about the smallest and slowest missile in your arsenal. Don’t save these things for a rainy day however, as their minimal damage could be just enough to push another pilot into the red. NOTE: if you’re piloting the Black Pyro in D3, this missile fires as a pair (you must have at least two to shoot).
Flash (D2): This is one of those missiles that gets relegated to ‘Bench Warmer’. It’s not a bad little missile and the effect of blinding your opponent is nice, it’s just 10x more effective against bots than it is against humans (human opponents have a better idea where you are, and they don’t stop shooting because they just lost visual).
Mercury: Paired with the Gauss gun, this is one missile with serious teeth. It’s extraordinarily fast. If you can hit your opponent with the Gauss and one or two of these, it renders them dead and buried in no time at all.
Guided: Guided missiles don’t get enough use in Multi-player games. However…they do have very specific uses that can not be ignored. Firstly, they ARE missiles. Secondly, they can investigate areas you don’t feel comfortable entering. Third, well…ok, I can’t tell you this one yet. Just remember, they lock very hard on an opponent (one of the best locks in a game is made with this missile).
Homing: A favorite missile that everyone uses and understands fairly well. The locking arc is greater in D1 and D3 than in D2 (basically, be more sure of your target in D2). NOTE: if you’re piloting the Black Pyro in D3, this missile fires as a pair (you must have at least two to shoot).
Smart Missile: Personally, this is my favorite missile. There is very little to say, except that it doesn’t lock on your opponent’s ship until the missile explodes, and then only if the opponent is in line of site of the explosion. Avoid shooting it directly at your opponent. Rather, shoot at a wall or surface close to where your opponent WILL be to achieve the desired effect.
Mega: This missile packs a SERIOUS payload. Trust me, you can not go head to head and win. It locks hard, it’s reasonable fast, and heck, I even like the bright red color. Do be careful firing this. You don’t want to shoot it when your opponent is within a few ship lengths to you, or when you are in an enclosed area (tunnels primarily). In D3, the missile was slowed down considerably, making it much easier to evade.
BTW…That Mega Missile in Minerva 3 is for scenery…stop getting it out :)
Cyclone (D3): The cyclone should have the nickname death blossom…oh wait, that’s been taken. Anyway, essentially this is a two-stage missile. In stage one (which is very short), the payload is a single missile, about the same strength as a Mega. This stage does not track other ships, so it’s mostly blind luck/desperation that allows you to kill with it. Stage two is more interesting. When the missile reaches X distance from your ship, it explodes into 6 baby-sized homing missiles. These missiles all track independently of one another. This ALLOWS for the possibility of multiple kills with one shot. Always make sure you are in a position that affords the missile time to reach stage 2 with you opponents still far enough away for the missiles to get a good lock. Players that have come up against this missile have a tendency to turn into the deployed missile and burn almost straight at it. If they’re timing is right, they get past the homing missiles before they can lock. NOTE: if you’re piloting the Black Pyro in D3, this missile fires as a pair (you must have at least two to shoot).
Impact Mortar (D3): This bugger isn’t a missile…nor is it exactly a counter-measure. It tends to be most useful against aggressive players. I use this most often when someone won’t stop chasing me. By spinning my ship around, I can launch it into their path. If they aren’t right behind me, they have 2 choices. Bug out or die. You can also try using it by deploying into the middle of someone else’s dogfight. The huge blast radius will often net you at least one kill. Try not to deploy it where it’s going to cover an exit you intend to use, you will regret doing so when your ship gets blown out from underneath you.
Frag (D3): These little missiles pack a punch. Fire them into tight areas you expect your opponents are hiding in or traveling through.
Napalm (D3): Shoot this bad boy at ceilings in the middle of a dogfight. Or better yet, use it to close off an entrance to a room or a hallway. Depending on wind and artificial gravity settings in a level, the blobs of napalm may react differently than you’d expect.
Earthshaker (D2 + D3): A VERY NASTY MISSILE. OK, I’ll tell you the truth. I’m no good at shakers. But I do know the principles. Don’t shoot one to detonate within 2 ship lengths of your ship. Don’t shoot directly at your opponent, rather attempt to use it like a smart missile. Don’t try to run from one if you are on the receiving end. Turn, face it, and attempt to dodge. How? Check out Ender’s Shaker Source in my links section. I’d rather not try to explain it, as he has done a bang-up job anyway. (Note-Shakers were recently added through a user mod to Descent 3, they are unavailable in the retail version).
Black Shark (D3): The jury is still out on this one. The idea behind it is at the point of impact, a gravity well is created. Ships (that are close enough) are sucked into the center. My experience with it though has lead me to believe that it doesn’t result in nearly enough kills and the effects that are felt level-wide when one is fired off are simply annoying. If I had my choice? I’d disallow it in every Multi-player game, it just doesn’t add much to the experience.
Ok, now you have to hang tough. You’ve gone through the primer, now here’s the lesson.
Exercise 1
Load a multiplayer level using the New Game option. Move around the level, collecting all available secondary weapons. Once you have selected all available secondary weapons, think about which weapons will work best in a tight hallway. Which will work the best in larger rooms? What secondary weapons will work best under and around each game environment is very important. Remember the little things you learn practicing with various secondary weapons. It may seem simple, but don’t bother detonating a napalm missile over water.
Practice repeatedly in various environments, until you know about how much of a cavern a cyclone will travel before going stage 2 or much time it takes for any missile type to connect with it’s target. Don’t worry that things lack urgency simply because there are no human opponents yet. Just remember even the simplest thing from this lesson and you will have not wasted your time.
Cont.
Just because you have a handle on the weapons available to you and the damage they can dish out in a situation only means you are half done. Now, you must figure out how your weapons should be ordered. Is the Cyclone more important to you than the Mega? Do you have more success with the Napalm than the Smart missile? Figuring these ideas out are, more than anything in D1 and D2 a matter of personal preference/fighting style. In D3 however, you must also match your weapon selection order to your ship. Ask around and think about your options. Finding out what works best for you may take some time, but it will all pay off in the end. Make sure that you don’t come to rely on any one weapon, since you don’t always know in advance if there will be enough of them available in the level you are playing.
Drop and pray
Success comes when you can meld your use of primary, secondary, and tertiary weapons into one tight package. While many pilots tend to think less of these counter-measures than the other two types, you can not be a great pilot without familiarizing yourself with the benefits of using them. So here we go, a brief introduction into the bowels of Descent.
…Unless otherwise noted, the counter-measures here are in all three Descents.
Proximity Bombs: More a nuisance than a countermeasure. Try placing these in blind corners or when someone is burning after you. They can also be used to foil homing weapons to some extent.
Smart Bombs (D2): Ah, the smart bomb. The above average player shuns them and the below average player hates them. Aside from the Earthshaker, this is one of the trickiest weapons to use correctly. You won’t hit experienced players with by deploying it behind a door. Try deploying them in the middle of a dogfight instead. The added confusion they create will almost always work to your advantage, even if they don’t hit your opponent. If you’re flying against a lot of pilots with less experience than you and you want to rack up some easy kills, deploy them behind every door in the level. Oh, and one last thing…NEVER leave them where pilots respawn. That has got to be the lamest, stupidest, most obscene behavior any pilot can engage in while playing.
Gunboy (D3): A stationary, tracking level 1 laser. Singularly, these little guys aren’t much. Try placing them in groups at choke points, and you may be rewarded with the occasional kill. The best use for gunboys isn’t to harass opponents, it’s to locate them. Gunboys make a very distinct sound when fired, and listening to them will help you locate your opponents that much faster.
Chaff (D3): Another countermeasure, this device is meant to solely distract incoming tracking weapons. Do not deploy this then turn and run back through it. Rather, use it exclusively to assist in escape and evasion. BTW, this device really is not found in too many multiplayer games, so you’ll have to do your homework to find a level that has it so you can learn the ropes.
Bouncing Betty (D3): This is another one case of, “Sounds good on paper…let’s design it.” For the most part, it’s either not effective or deployed incorrectly, resulting in your death, not your opponents. If you have these in your inventory, you’re simply better off not using them in most cases. If you must use them though, try dropping them in dead ends.
Exercise 1
Load a multiplayer level using the New Game option. Move around the level, collecting all available counter-measures and mines. Once you have gathered them all, think about which weapons will work best in a tight hallway. Which will work the best in larger rooms? When you’re running from an enemy, do you want to drop a gun-boy or a mine?
Practice repeatedly in various environments, until you know as much as possible about each and every weapon. Your experiences here will pay off later on.
Cont.
Using your new found knowledge, try joining a few games. Make a point of firing off chaff when an opponent uses a tracking missile. Lay gunboys in various areas, trying to both disrupt other pilots and gain the occasional kill. Practice using these devices until you know what works best in every situation.
Open your senses
Every pilot has a weakness. Most pilots, who have not been trained before, or have a very rudimentary skill set do not realize the power of the senses in a game. Sight, sound, and touch ALL play equally significant roles (taste and smell don’t matter…yet).
First and most logical is the sense of sight. Do yourself a favor, clean your monitor’s screen regularly. If you don’t have one, invest in at least a 17” monitor. If you play Descent 1 or 2, set your frame rate to a reasonable setting (uncapped frame rates, with the current power available to gamers in the terms of video cards and processors is SIMPLY not acceptable). You don’t need a frame rate faster than 60 to see everything there is to see in a smoothly rendered screen.
Sound is something many gamers realize is valuable to invest in, yet all too many take the cheap way out by using the speakers packaged with their Packard Bells. It may sound silly, but the better your sound set-up, the better your game will be in Multi-Player games. WHY? Well, the better your sound system, the easier it is to ‘hear’ what your opponents are doing and where they are at any given moment. You can hear when they use the afterburner, when they back into a wall…even when they pick up weapons and change them. Opening doors produces a distinct sound. In D3, sound takes on a WHOLE additional level of importance. Invest in an above average pair of headphones at the very least, and save your speakers for playing mp3 files loud enough to drive your loved ones nuts.
But what of touch? How does that relate to playing Descent? Touch is a tactile sense. There are three DIRECT ways touch can be used to describe how you play
Keyboard Layout-are all the keys you need placed in a convenient arrangement on the keyboard? Joystick/Mouse/Orb-is this input device comfortable? Are the buttons in convenient locations? Does the device have a abnormally large ‘dead’ area? Is it positioned on your desk in a good location? Joystick/Mouse Force Feedback (D3 Only)-The tactile feedback offered can be both a boon and a hindrance. If you have one of these devices, try playing with the feedback set at different levels, even turned totally off, and see if it affects your game. Touch, as is sight and sound, is of critical importance to your gameplay. Do not underestimate the truth of this lesson…if you are not comfortable playing, you will not be comfortable with your game.
Exercise 1
If you are new to Descent, I want you to experiment with your set-up, from keyboard layout to sound settings in your game options. Don’t leave any stone unturned…find out what every feature and switch allows you to modify. If you find a setting or configuration that you like, try playing with it for a few games. See if you can adjust to it or if it was a bad idea to change.
If you are a seasoned Descent pilot, you still can perform the exercises. I also want you to really consider your existing setup, from the furniture you use all the way down to the quality of your keyboard. Is there anything you need to replace? Is there any way to make yourself more comfortable (w/o taking out a loan)?
You can find many alternatives to basic keyboard and joystick/mouse combos, both in type of equipment and in layout of keys. Look at bulletin board postings and personal web pages on the topic to find helpful hints and advice. When you find a setup that matches you and your playing style, then your game will improve noticeably and you’ll feel better about playing it.
Cont.
All to often, we focus on the problem at hand. We focus on the fact we just died 10 times in a row in a familiar level, for no better reason than we’re uncomfortable. We don’t give enough attention to other problems that will affect game play. Open your mind to your current, real world environment. If you have to make compromises, such as a 3rd rate chair for a 1st rate table because of available funds, that’s normal. Don’t go out and spend $1000 just to get the most comfortable setup imaginably simply because, “Stormcrow said so.” Figure out what you need to be comfortable…maybe it’s only a $5 dollar pillow for you back, or a free scrap of lumber to raise your joystick up a whole inch off of the current surface you use for playing. Or maybe, just maybe, you have to spend 2 weeks practicing with a new layout on your keyboard. Whatever it takes, make it happen, and you will benefit from the rewards.
If you’ve been to larger LAN’s, you may have seen some pretty weird set-ups. I know of more than a few pilots that bring not only their computers, but also their favorite chair. I’ve even heard tell of someone that totally retrofitted his chair so he could mount his joystick at the end of his armrest. I know of another pilot that literally re-wired pedals (used most often in racing simulators) to work with his joystick to provide his left and right slide. Sure, people can and will make fun of you if they see things like this. But if it makes you a better pilot…then let them laugh themselves silly.
Tactics & Techniques
Tactics are what differentiates the men from the boys. If you have a strong basing in tactics, you can go very far in Descent. You must always build on what you learn in games.
Awareness
If you concentrate 100% on hitting a target, not only will you probably miss, you’ll definitely get trashed for doing so. Under most circumstances, you must be alert to where you need to dodge next as well as other pilots that may be looking to get in on your fight.
Back Doors
Close off back doors. If you have a full complement of weapons (including countermeasures/napalm missiles), then try this tactic in anarchy games. Close off one tunnel entrance into the room you’d prefer to fight in with either countermeasures a napalm missile. Then, place your back to it and beat on your opponents as the come in one of the other entrances to the room.
Burner Abuse
Don’t use your burners to move. I know I’ve said it before, but this bears repeating. If you find that you use your burners to get simply from any one point in the mine to another, you will give yourself away to nearly everyone in the level. Learn to Tri-chord and learn to love it.
Corners
Don’t fight from corners. You naturally box yourself in and provide your opponent with a bigger target if they are using anything with splash damage.
Conservation
Conserve your inventory, but only to a point. One of the best tactics that earns the occasional kill and definitely saves you ship is to shoot a ‘fire and forget’ missile (preferably a smart missile) through open doors and around corners. Do not do this however if you are low on munitions, or you have reason to believe there is no one currently in that area of the level. When you die, the less you have in your inventory the better, since your opponent gets the spew.
Entering Battles
Don’t just fly blindly into conflicts. Rather, seek to figure out optimal placement for either entering a fray or simply shooting into one. Jumping into a fray with level one lasers and concussion missiles is about as close to a death wish as you can have. Avoid jumping into any fight you are not fully prepared for. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen someone with level one lasers and concussion missiles try and get into the middle of a big dogfight, only to get blown apart before anyone else for their trouble. If you spawn in the middle of one of these conflicts, get away as quickly as possible and stock up on missiles and better primary weapons. Duking it out will only earn a death.
Following
DON’T FOLLOW (Rungi’s rule number 1). Following places you as the hunted for smart mines and missiles from the guy in front of you, as well as places your back to the people that could be behind you. Following gets you killed two out of three times before you get a kill. Thank you Urungus for beating this lesson into me time and time again.
Following x2
DON’T EVER FOLLOW (Rungi’s rule number 2). See Rungi’s rule number one for clarification.
Full View
Turn off the cockpit. The more you can see, the more you can target.
Habits
Even the most experienced pilots can have a bad habit. If you can figure it out and exploit it, you’ll profit greatly. For an example, I was in a game with three ‘greats’ of Descent in April. Two of them would often rush me in a tunnel, in an effort to force the fight and confuse me at the same time. On the few occasions I could pick up an impact mortar, I turned the tables on them. You can do the same thing if you pay attention to everything that happens in the ebb and flow of the game. Don’t get discouraged, get even.
Homing Secrets
Want to figure out if there’s someone waiting for you around the corner? Use a homing weapon. EMD’s, Homing Missiles, Smart Missiles, and others will all betray your opponent. You’ll be giving yourself away as well though, so use this with caution.
Leading
Lead your targets. This can’t be stressed enough, especially when playing online and dealing with latency and lag. When you lead however, attempt to not only predict where your opponent is going, but also to box them into a corner or a more concentrated blast of fire power. Plasma, level 6 lasers, and the microwave guns are all excellent in this application.
Lock Down
Close off known highways. This may sound a bit odd, allow me to explain. In any level, there are normally several junctures. If you can control one, you may control the entire flow of the game. This all depends on the number of pilots and the level and sometimes the countermeasures available to you.
Rear View
Set at least one of your inventory displays to permanent rear-view (I personally recommend the primary weapon window). This allows you the chance to see opponents attempting to get you from behind, so long as you remember to look there.
Spew Camping
You shouldn’t rush back to the area you last died at hoping to get some of your weapons back. Some of the time, a good pilot will sit on your spew (weapons and such that you drop when your ship is destroyed) on the chance that you’ll come back immediately. Instead, circle around searching for previously unclaimed weapons or respawned goodies. In some smaller levels of D2, this lesson is extremely critical. In D3, it is less important to attempt to reclaim some of your spew due to the respawn setting in multiplayer.
Taking the High Ground
In most every instance, being the person at the highest point in a room confers an advantage. This is the case for two reasons. The first being, most pilots have a momentary difficulty orienting themselves to shooting ‘up’ at a target. The second reason applies to Descent 3 only. In D3, gravitational settings for levels affect a particularly deadly missile, the napalm. Believe me, you don’t want to be stuck sliding around on the floor of the room when one of these goes off above you.
Time
It goes without saying, but the longer you can stay alive, the better your chances are of coming out ahead. So why do pilots rush headlong at each other in some weird high-noon chicken showdown? If you’re battling it out in a tight hallway with another pilot, DON’T rush him. Instead, with guns blazing, back up steadily. As he’s rushing towards your shots, your moving away from his. Who knows, not only might you kill him, you also might get away…
Using Your Senses
LISTEN! Your opponent just picked up a weapon around the corner. The guy two levels up just won a major firefight, and he’s hurting. The person just behind you opened a door. A gunboy in the other room just started firing. These are all but a few of the clues you need to piece together your tactics. Use EVERYTHING to your advantage.
Visualization
Visualize yourself moving with the flow of a game. If the action heats up in a particular area in a level, work that area from the peripheral, not from the center. Catch pilots trying to rejoin the battle from the sidelines.
Patience is the key to success
Ok, I’ve been grilling you hard about the basics to this point. At the moment though, I’d like to take a small diversion. Whether talking about how long it takes to develop your skills or playing in an actual game, patience is an attribute you must learn to maintain. I can’t stress this enough, and I hope you will see the importance of what I intend to show you.
Perseverance is what pays off in the long run. If you get discouraged, disgusted, or tired of constantly loosing to other people, you will end up quitting. If you find yourself playing and playing, and you see no improvement, take a step back. Re-evaluate what you’re doing in games. Don’t ponder what you’re doing wrong. Rather, attempt to isolate what you do right. Try to figure out why it’s right and how to repeat it more often. You must have patience with your game and more importantly, with yourself.
As to patience in a game, the fool that runs around is the one that finds himself in a jam most often. Don’t use your burner’s without reason. Don’t run around corners constantly with no plan for what you will do if you find your opponent face to face and firing. Don’t think that if only I can get right back into the conflict, I can beat that guy. Instead, bide your time. Figure out where you’re opponent should be, and move counter to that. Build up your inventory. Be sneaky, because if you aren’t, you’ll give away your position both before you can really fight and also before you can find out where your opponent is.
Being a camper is not the same as having patience, so please don’t confuse the two in your application of this lesson. Camping, while I will admit sometimes works well, is not in the same vein as taking your time to take stock of a situation. Being patient does not mean you are sitting still, mulling over your options. It does mean that you’re moving. It does mean that you are building your inventory. And it does mean that you are listening for cues as to where you’re opponent is.
Losing site of your opponent is nerve racking. When he disappears from view and you move to cut him off, only to find out he chose another route may make you inclined to turn and burn after him. Doing this, more often then not, is foolish for so many reasons. One, your opponent has frustrated you. For however long it lasts, you are frazzled at having lost your opponent. Two, you risk giving your position away, while you still aren’t absolutely certain where your opponent’s position is. Lastly, if your opponent is close enough, they may be able to turn you into the hunted. Betraying your position too early is one of the primary reasons pilots fail.
The only example I can think of that is holds true to this formula is hunting. Hunting big game is an exercise in patience the likes of which are not experienced even remotely by your average multi-player opponent. Hunting big game is an exercise in mistakes. It isn’t always the first mistake that determines the winner, whether it be game or hunter. But the last mistake is always telling. If the hunter is the one that made it, you can bet even odds that it was as a result of lack of patience and preparedness.
Do you play to work off frustration, or is play the source of your frustration? When you are in a game, do you find yourself surprised often by where you find your opponent? Do you used your after burners more than 10% of the time? Do you tend to tell yourself, gee, if only I had waited another second before doing that…? Think on these things, and you will begin to learn the power of patience.
Psychology 101
Your opponents all want you. Your friends, your comrades, & your pals, all want you. All of them want you to go down in a fiery crash.
Descent is much more than simply shooting at whatever moves. That’s why our community is so small and tight, in terms of both size and the people that play here. The psychology behind the game being played is utterly complex, even at the most basic levels.
You must remember for all the good feelings you get from playing with your friends online, there is one golden rule when you get into the mine. He who blinks first dies.
You must leave behind your kindness. Leave behind your love for all things furry. Leave behind remorse.
The only things you need with you in the mines is hunger and intelligence. Hunger to destroy everyone and everything you see and intelligence enough to control that hunger. Play hungry for that next kill, but don’t let yourself lose site of the fact the longer you stay alive the better your chances of winning. Don’t throw away a life to take one.
Fear is not an option in the game. Cast that aside as well. You can’t ever be afraid of someone’s skill. Doing so gives them more power to overcome you. Instead, focus on the hunt. Look to the inner part of your being that desires to win more than to lose. Don’t allow your opponent to crush that even before you enter the game.
You need to find a key that will allow you to fly your best, every time you strap into your Pyro. I want you to meditate on what makes the game fun for you…winning would definitely be my personal first option. When my game is on, and I’m playing against opponents…no one is a Fatal, an Ender, a Birdseye, or any of the other greats of Descent. They are ALL targets. Nothing more, nothing awe inspiring. You must put away any doubts that you have about your skills.
“Do you believe that my being stronger or faster has anything to do with my muscles in this place. You think that’s air you’re breathing now?” The Matrix
Remember, in the online world, the only thing that allows players to dominate you is your own imagination. When facing an opponent that you believe to be your better, do not seek to play them on their turf. Rather, attempt to upset them. Disturb their flow, their patterns, their entire game. Don’t take for granted that simply because they may be better than you that you can’t beat them, or at least learn something new in the attempt. Try new techniques. Watch how they fight and see what you can incorporate into your game. If they favor a particular weapon, try to figure out why (especially if it’s not a standard favorite).
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people join a game, stick around long enough to get killed a ten or so times with little retribution, then leave. They don’t understand yet what it means to go through trials by fire. They don’t appreciate yet what it means to be a skilled pilot. They lack the tenacity it takes to learn to truly fly.
Maybe, you are one of those pilots. I know I was one once. If you learn nothing more from this lesson, remember that perseverance is the key to learning anything new. Joining games then bugging out immediately isn’t going to help your game AT ALL. Instead, stick around. See how the game is being played. And if you feel you’re so out of your depth you can’t learn anything, remember that in Descent 3 you can go into observer mode to get a better handle on the pilots and tactics in the game.
If you’re more like I am now, you may still join the occasional game and look at the carnage. You’ll see pilots that seem to be light years ahead of your skill level, and you’ve been playing for months or years. But by this time, you’ve already learned that rank and kills don’t matter. What matters is learning new techniques and applying what you’ve practiced. You still must be observant. You still must look at how the game unfolds. Don’t ever stop learning how to play this game, or any other.
Many people find ethics in a game to be burdensome. Here’s a quick quiz to illustrate the point
An opponent is typing and has the keyboard symbol over their ship (Descent 3 only). Do you…
a. Open fire?
b. Move along and let him/her be?
c. Wait until the second they are done typing and then open fire?
An opponent you just killed respawns in front of you. Do you…
a. Open fire?
b. Let him collect a weapon or two?
Someone is cussing in a game. Maybe even at you! Do you…
a. Ignore it?
b. Turn it into something personal, and make every effort to hunt the person down?
c. Report it to the server administrator?
d. Cuss back, toilet language and all?
Someone complains repeatedly after dying in your sites that the weapon you used is unfair or the ship you’re in is unfair. Do you…
a. Attempt to appease the person by not using the item or ship anymore?
b. Ignore them?
c. Make a point of hunting them down and using the weapon or ship over and over again?
These points are meant to illustrate several ideas. The first being, all manner of people play Descent. The second is no matter what you do, it is still just a game. The last point is, honor comes in many forms. I know many pilots that wouldn’t think twice about popping a guy on respawn. These same people would do anything possible to keep the game friendly in terms of the chat messages being relayed. Do they fly without honor?
No one answer is necessarily right or wrong. I’ve done everything up there but openly curse at someone in the game. If it’s a friendly game, I’ll apologize for an action if I feel it’s warranted. If it’s a game where something is on the line, unless I know the person will give me time to get a weapon on respawn, I won’t give them a moments peace.
You can get mired in all kinds of issues. Is it ok to use a particular weapon? Is it a good idea to do things to purposefully goad an opponent? Only you can answer these questions. Every game is different, and every pilot is as well. I won’t ask someone to apologize for a kill made on me while typing. Why? Because if you’re typing when you aren’t currently dead, then you ARE a valid target in the game. The keyboard only makes you easier to spot. It may not be right or honorably according to the way you fly your Pyro, but that is the way that I tend to fly. I’ll even kill on respawn, but I normally try to save that behavior in situations where total kills really do matter. When you spawn, you have an afterburner (in Descent 3 only) and about 3 seconds of invincibility. Use it to move out of the way.
No one has to subscribe to my beliefs. In games, I’ll tolerate nearly any behavior except for foul language and spew stealing in team games. Both get my blood boiling. Foul language has no place in a game that younger children could be playing. Spew stealing is the act of taking the shield orb and other goodies dropped when one of your teammates kills an opponent. The stuff belongs to your teammate for the kill, and should be his for the taking. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure either of these points out, and yet it’s still a pretty big problem in games.
For this lesson, I just want you to think about the type of pilot you’d like others to see you as. Do you want them to see you as a snot nosed brat or an opponent with some dignity? Do you want other pilots to hate you or respect you? Do you feel the need to take on a persona with no ethics or ethics of a saint? Oftentimes, the personality of a person you are playing is very similar to the way they are in real life. Ask yourself these questions, and others in an attempt to determine your ethics when playing in a game.
The Cheater
How many times have you seen someone in a game use F8 to declare to everyone that another pilot is cheating? How many times has that declaration followed a death by that same pilot?
Let’s get this out in the open, and take care of it now for everyone’s enjoyment. That pilot that yelled, “Cheater” isn’t necessarily an idiot. He isn’t necessarily stupid, or even short 3 beers of a six-pack. What is he then? He’s uneducated as to the facts, and in all likelihood a bit frustrated as well.
The Truth
Cheating in an online game, through PXO, is to the best of everyone’s knowledge impossible. And in Descent 2, while possible, isn’t a very likely event. I’d say that if cheats were possible and readily available in all three Descents, less than 3% of all players would consider using them in an actual multiplayer game. Why? Because more than a fair number of pilots out there can VERY easily identify an actual hack at work, and most will either do everything they can to make the hack as miserable as possible or will simply leave the game.
Have I ever used a cheat in Descent in any version? Yeah, I used the cheat in Descent 2. I’m sure some of you have seen it or heard of it. Among other things you can modify, you can basically set yourself up with an unlimited supply of ‘quad’ shakers in ANY level. And why did I use it? The same reason I say that the player yelling cheater has not been educated is my justification. I wanted to know beyond any shadow of a doubt when a person was cheating in a game.
Fortunately, Outrage went out of it’s way to prevent this type of behavior in Descent 3. As I’ve already stated, there is no way to directly influence speed, shields, or weapon strength in a multiplayer game through PXO servers. That’s not to say that there aren’t players out there that are so despicably good at what they do that it seems like they’re cheating. There are also modifications available that may be construed as cheating, including ship mod’s and paint mod’s, but none of them confer the same types of client side modifications as was possible in earlier versions.
The bottom line is, at no time in PXO will you ever see a Pheonix shoot triple fusion like a Magnum, you will not see a pilot that is capable of shooting missiles as fast as the mercury missiles found in D2, and at no time will you see someone shoot ‘quad’ shakers (although since we are lucky enough to have a dedicated mod community, we can see a pilot shoot a shaker missile in Descent 3).
So wipe that sneer off your face, and go practice some more. Maybe one day if you’re lucky, a pilot will call you a cheater as well. Because many pilots consider it not only harassing to be labeled a cheater, but also somewhat complimentary as well.
Victory
The first time you come out on top, you’ll realize that all of those hours you spent working on your game were finally worth it. It’s my own reason for returning to the game night after night. But how is victory in any multiplayer game achieved?
It all starts with what you’re doing now. You’re reading a web site dedicated to giving you the tools you need to build your skills. You are essentially researching something that in my mind should have been explained on page one of any help document, FAQ, or strategy guide on Descent. The problem is, too many people have been busy worrying about whether or not you understand where to find a keycard to open a section of the dungeon (heh, I know I’ll get fan mail on this one, PLEASE for everyone out there that may object…keep in mind that I also respect what you have done to promote the community), rather than whether or not you know how to perform a barrel roll.
The solution is to take what you have learned here. Take it and use it every time you play. Break it down into smaller sections than even I have and use the information to learn a technique that is new to you. Gradually, as you learn more about the game and yourself, you’ll come to realize that victory is possible. You can excel at this game if you are willing to try. And the key to all of this is an ideal that I can duly credit to Ender, although I’m not sure he’s the first one that made this association…
Just One More
When we talk about Descent in the abstract, we often fall back to explaining levels that we love, games we’ve played, and maybe even people we wish we could meet in real life. Some time ago, Ender had that chance at a LAN and a conversation was started between himself and a few other people. The question was, what drives you to succeed in Descent? How do you go into game after game with the same drive each time? How do you eventually come out on top of every game that you play?
The answer was simple. Ender said he was always looking for, “Just one more.” It’s not about greed, if that was your first thought. Rather, it’s about a driving factor in his gameplay, and one you should adopt if you ever want to be victorious. The explanation goes something like this
You’ve killed one opponent, and finished off another. Your shields from the two scuffles now reflect 25% strength. While many pilots at this point would think only the negative, “Next battle I get into I’ll die.” Instead, pilots with a true will to win, such as Ender, see it a different way. “Just one more,” becomes their rallying cry, and they re-engage themselves into the game, looking for one more kill that can be made, before their ship is blown out from under them. This drive pushes pilots like Ender to excel beyond the norm. If they can bag one more kill before succumbing to their damage, then they’ll be that much better off later in the game for having done so. And if you can’t at least do that, than try to take your opponent with you.
Maybe you can come up with your own reason for moving on and finding one more opportunity. Perhaps you have a different philosophy altogether. All that matters is that you make some kind of attempt to wipe the slate clean and think of yourself as capable of dealing out one more killing blow. Because that’s exactly what the best pilots do. They don’t worry about what they did on their way to having one shield left. They simply look for a way for that one point in their shields column equal 100 in someone else’s.
Wildcards Descent League
What does it mean to be a Wildcard?
Being a Wildcard is to some a status symbol. To others, its just another League. To me, it’s a family. I’ve met more great people through the Wildcards organization than another other online group/clan/league I’ve ever joined. These are just some of the things it means to me and others…
To be a Wildcard means
…always playing with Honor, Respect, and Courage.
…always there is someone that can help with a computer related problem.
…always there is a server I can talk to people of all ages and backgrounds, yet still know each of them well.
…that one can always find a game of Descent to play against some of the best pilots on the Net.
…that one can receive some of the best Training available on the Net.
…that no matter where I go on Kali or PXO, someone recognizes the League and what it means.
…and finally, it means that you are a part of one of the oldest and strongest Descent League on the Internet.
I’m thankful for the Wildcards organization and I’m very happy to contribute to it in every way possible. I get a great deal of personal satisfaction out of being a member of this select group of men and women. I hope you take a moment to look at some of the links and pages in my site, to find out more about the league and possibly get involved with it as well.
I’ll be the first to admit, leagues aren’t for everyone. But I wouldn’t trade my experiences with these guys for anything. If you play half as much as I do, check them out or any other similar organization on the Net. The gaming will get you hooked and the friendships you make will keep you coming back for more.
Oh, and if you happen to stop by the server and see me just hanging around, I love to play Descent…just ask me for a game :)
(Disclaimer Notice: Other clans include MOB, Bots, Rangers, 59, DMC, MS, RIP, and others. I will gladly post your clan’s website with the others in the links section if you send it in to me. The Wildcards are simply where I’ve been working on my skills off and on for 3 years, so I felt it necessary to illustrated what I get from it. I’m sure others can receive the same benefits from different organizations.)
Who is Charles Featherer?
I get more than my fair share of, “Featherer? That’s a weird or unique or cool or stupid last name…” To set the record straight, yes, it is different. If you’ve ever met, face to face, someone with that last name, I’m 99% sure you’ve met a relative of mine. ‘Featherer’ is a name that is derived from the Germanic ‘Fetter’. Sometime in the early 1700’s, my descendents from Germany boarded a ship for the grand ole U.S. of A. Over 10 generations later, we’re still here. The name ‘Fetter’ became Feather, and eventually was changed into Featherer by my family. I come from a very long line of failed farmers in the New Jersey and Pennsylvania area. Among the less notorious of my family line, I can number 1 judge, 2 brothers that participated in the Civil War, and 1 that was involved in the Revolutionary War. My very own father, though only in the Merchant Marines, was present in Vietnam for a very brief period of the conflict. As for myself, I’m somewhat less distinguished than even the failed farmers in my past. Although accepted to several learned institutions, I chose to attend Rutgers School of Engineering in 1991. I’ll admit, I wasn’t ready for a big school. Heck, I may not have been ready for college, period. I wasn’t doing very well there when I met the woman who now has the curse of sharing my family name. Within the first year of college, I washed out…and had a baby on the way to boot. (Note to all those who are under 18 and reading this…STAY IN SCHOOL FOOL!).
Since then, I’ve been a Security Shift Supervisor, a Library Assistant, and a Supervising Library Assistant. I recently earned my Associates Degree in Computers and Information Systems at my local Community College. I work full time, study part time, and help to run my household all the time. Since I don’t sleep very much, I also manage to squeeze in a few hours online every night, hanging out in Kali and trying to become a better Descent pilot.
The Evolution of Stormcrow Stormcrow? Who the hell is Stormcrow? I’ll tell you, but in my own way. I began as Merlin, a.k.a. M3rlyn. I chose the ‘handle’ three years ago, and still answer to it. But, as handles go, Merlin isn’t the most creative, or the most unique. After getting a real taste of how many people were using that handle in some form or another on Kali, sometime in mid-1999, I mentioned to a good friend of mine that it was time for a change.
Urungus (don’t ask, its his job to explain that one…) came back to me a couple of days later. “Merlin, how’d you like to be called Stormcrow?” It took me all of two seconds to plan my response. I reset my settings in Kali and rejoined the server he was in. He then told me how he came upon the name.
Ever hear of The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings? Well there is a major character in both, by the name of Gandalf. Now Gandalf is nearly as common as Merlin as an online name. But at one point in the second book of the The Lord of the Rings, in the volume The Two Towers, the name Stormcrow is used. Stormcrow is the name a king of the middle lands used in apathy towards Gandalf. The king, bemoaning the appearance of Gandalf, called him by an alias, that of Stormcrow.
Stormcrow’s Buddies I’m lucky enough to have some very wonderful and supportive people I can call friends. Not all of them are online or a part of the Wildcards Empire, but each of them has helped me in some way. At the very least, I have to make note of the following friends and thank them for all they’ve done for me:
- Urungus, for introducing me to the Wildcards. For being a help both face to face and online…and for an almost unlimited supply of kicking stogies.
- Zonerie, the person who has taught me more about Descent than anyone else. Zon is a trainer’s trainer. Thanks man!
- Sandman, who throws the world’s smallest LAN party. Its so small…ah, forget it. But it is a hell of a lot of fun. For being given an open invitation to participate anytime I can, for all of the computer and other advice, and for getting all the wicked pay-per-views, I gotta thank the man with the plan.
- Stonewall, thanks for all of the games bud. I will get you!
- Ender and Bama, I can always count on losing and learning at the same time with both of you. Thanks for letting a disgraceful and graceless snot-nosed brat into your games.
- The Command Team of the Wildcards, for giving me a chance.
- The Wildcards, an honorable league. If you play one of them, I can guarantee two things. One, you will not win easily, if at all. Two, don’t come crying to anyone about a Wildcard cheating. If you were beat, it was fair and square.
- My Wife, who doesn’t demand I come to bed at a normal hour. I will forever love and cherish her…I only hope she cares half as much for me.
- My Son, who will eventually play Descent and beat the stuffing out of dear old dad.
- My Dad, who still isn’t sure what Descent is but understands my desire to be the best I can be at anything I do.
What’s next for the ‘crow?
I plan to expand the family by one more (due in May). I need to finish my education and get at least a Bachelor’s Degree in something worthwhile. And I recently bought my first home. Aside from all of that, I’m not too busy. (Feel free to e-mail me if you have a crystal ball that works, I’d love to know what’s next).