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Basic flight maneuvers

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Basic flight maneuvers

I expect that you will have read everything up to here because I will not mention things more than once. The next part will be about situations that happen very often. They were created for dogfighting one on one but I know that they also work during multiplayer games with 8 opponents (of course things are different in that situation but me and my girlfriend flew at a huge Descent Session (25 Computers and about 30 pilots) without real experience against many enemies. We did well!).
If you start analyzing maneuvers and moves you will find many faults that you made before. On the other hand a fault is something like a risk that you take. If you handle things different and keep succeeding tell it to me.
The situations and Movements that are shown here are just examples. Study them and start to make your own thoughts about them ( it may help to try it on paper).

Head-to-Head in low rooms

The red ship shot into the wrong direction. The blue pilot is firing a perfect line of Fire. Note that he does not rely on one shot. He spreads his shots in a row that makes it next to impossible for his opponent to dodge them. I will call this behaviour: "shooting rows". The pilot of the red ship can try to escape with the afterburner or move up or down if the shots are too high or too low.

Around a corner

A direct attack would be a high risk because the other one can move backwards while still shooting. Everyone tries to do things unregularly and shoot where he thinks that the other one could arrive. Start to mix up your opponent's mind (keep quiet and make a surprise attack, use a Guided Missile or a Smart Missile (if available). Fly around the block and attack from behind. Do things you that you think your enemy won´t expect.

The Chase

Red: -drop bombs -make a full speed turn and start firing - fly backwards and try to swap places (high risk) - use the afterburner to escape - search for a corner to slide in and turn Blue: try to fly above or under your opponent to avoid being seen in the rearview - keep quiet until red "hangs" at a corner - start an afterburner attack - use missiles for maximum damage (watch the blast radius)

Dogfighting

Both pilots try to strafe and circle each other. The goal is as always, dodge the enemy fire while shooting at him. Dogfighting is the hardest way to win a match but when you are more skilled it is the one with the lowest risk. You always have to keep the other one in sight. Aim carefully and use the Vulcan or Gauss Cannon to aim with low leading. Dodge up and down while you shoot your fire rows horizontally. In grey rooms it can be an advantage to stay quiet unless you have a good chance to hit (may be he looses you). Combine axis to fly faster and keep in mind that this situation is the most challenging thread given by Descent. Enjoy!

Caught in the Corner

Red is playing sitting duck in the corner. Because of the Smarties he can´t take the risk to shoot without aiming. In low rooms he is lost. In high halls he can Escape up or down. Nevertheless there is still a chance to escape with the afterburner. Blue mines the possible fleeing path with Smart Mines. While he shoots at the first Smart Mine he closes the opening and starts firing at the other one´s ship. Low risk kill!

Tunnel fighting

Blue is flying backwards and has time to dodge his opponents shots. While doing this he fires into the other direction. Red will fly into the shots because his and the shot's speed are adding to each other. There is definitly not enough time to dodge effectively. The blue pilot can wait for red to explode. Lucky position. The red Pilot should immediately stop attacking. Maybe a missile to provide a blast radius but that's it.

Afterburner Attack

The red pilot stands still while he flies around with a Guided missile or studies the map. It could also happen that he hangs on a corner because he is blinded with a Flash Missile. Blue notices that he is still unrecognized and prepares his attack. As he gets from medium to close distance he burns the afterburner and starts firing. The high speed of his ships make the shots (I prefer Laser) impact nearly in the same moment. With good timing this can be an instant low risk kill. This tactic can also work in many other situations. Behind the shots the ship is hard to find. Whenever the balance of weapons is on your side this can be a good move. But keep in mind that it is still risky.