Descent PSX Contents: 1- Introduction 2- Robots 3- Player Weapons 4- Robot AI Types 5- EULA 1- Introduction You have purchased DESCENT for the PSX and are in need of additional information, that's why you're reading this FAQ. It does not provide info on the game itself, but on the weapons and the pesky predators that plague the mines. The two boss bots will be covered, in a limited way, but that's all I can do. I played the PC version of it first and liked it, and I will agree with anyone who says that the PSX version of it is far more difficult. New controls and the PSX environment of it makes for a completely new experience. But I digress. Oh, one more thing, this is my first FAQ so don't jump on me right away if I miss something or mess up. 2- Robots Name: Class 1 Drone Appearance: Orange with Weapon Arms Weapon: Pulse Cannon Threat: Minimal/Minor in groups Description: The most common bot in the game. They make a fair amount of noise and do not have a cloaked counter-part, though there is are mine laying variations in a couple of the later levels; 11 and 20 for sure. Name: Class 2 Drone Appearance: Blue and cone shaped Weapon: Lv. 3 Lasers (burst) Threat: Minor/Low Description: The second most common bot in the game. Little more than a blue pest at best. Don't drive it into a corner. Likes to fire in bursts of 2-3 shots. Name: Small Hulk Appearance: Green with one eye Weapon: Lv. 4 Lasers Threat: Minor Description: A lot stronger than the drones. Very slow but surprisingly agile. Name: Medium Hulk Appearance: Light Brown Weapon: Concussion Missile Threat: Medium/High Description: Tough, but not very fast. Its weapons are point and shoot. If you see a missile coming your way, get the hell away from the walls! DO NOT ENGAGE THESE IN ENCLOSED SPACES!!! Name: Cloaked Medium Hulk Appearance: Cloaked Weapon: Concussion Missiles Threat: High/Very High Description: The weapons on these seem to be stronger that their brown cousin's weapons. In comparison, these are virtually silent and their weapon has no muzzle flash. If you're taking missile fire and can't figure it out these are probably to blame. Name: Super Hulk Appearance: Red Weapon: Homing Missile Threat: Very High/Extreme Description: These fire homing missiles at you! Try to dodge if you can, or get a cloaking a device. Either way, kill these fast. You start to see them around Lv. 5 and from there they become more common. Try to have a corner to duck around if you're going to fight with these. Name: Mini-Boss Appearance: Purple and Huge Weapon: Fusion Cannon Threat: Medium/High Description: These are big and for the most part stay in one spot snapping shots off at you from a distance. They're really tough and you'll use up a lot of missiles killing these. Name: Mega Hulk Appearance: Yellow and Enormous Weapon: Smart Missile Threat: Extreme/Impossible Description: The boss at the end of Lv. 7. Watch your arse when you fight with this bot. Keep moving at all times and never stop! It can cloak and teleport around the room, usually doing so when struck by weapons fire. Name: Uber Hulk Appearance: Flashes Red/Yellow with a giant Green Eye Weapon: Mega Missile Threat: Impossible Description: This bot is a one-shot kill, period! If you get hit, you're toast. Use a cloaking device to defeat it, but beware, it likes to fire at random if it can't see you. It can cloak and teleport around the room, usually doing so when struck by weapons fire. Name: Medium Lifter Appearance: Green with 2 Claw Arms Weapon: Diamond Swing Arms Threat: Minimal/High if it gets behind you Description: They like to rush at you as their weapons are melee. Pummel it from a distance with any weapon. They like to make a lot of noise when they see you. Name: Advanced Lifter Appearance: Red with 4 Claw Arms Weapon: Tungsten Swing Arms Threat: Medium/High Description: These are much stronger and faster than their green cousins are. They are also dead silent. Their attack cry sounds like little more than a whir that is frequently lost in the BGM. Likes to work in groups of 2-3. Name: Cloaked Lifter Appearance: Cloaked Weapon: Swing Arms Threat: Low/Medium Description: You may be losing shields for no reason, but these make a lot of racket, sounding like a Spider Processing bot. In a bright area these might look like an X-wing with the wings shut. Name: Secondary Lifter Appearance: Red with 1 Arm Weapon: Lv. 1 Laser (burst) Threat: High Description: These like to work in groups of 3-5 and fire in bursts of 3-5. Funny how that works... anyway, these like to rush at you firing blindly. Back pedal if you can and hammer them with any weapon. Name: Spider Processing Robot Appearance: Looks like a big spider Weapon: Pulse Cannon (burst) Threat: Medium/High Description: This one makes a lot of noise and fires in bursts of 3. Try to keep your distance if you can. It breaks into smaller spiders, so keep firing for a little bit afterwards. Name: Mini-Spider Processing Robot Appearance: Looks like a miniature version of the parent Weapon: Lv. 1 Laser Threat: Minor/Low Description: These appear after you destroy a Spider Processing Robot. Usually in groups of 3-5, sometimes hidden in secret doors in groups as large as 15. Name: Supervisor Robot Appearance: Blue and Spherical Weapons: None Threat: Medium Description: These tell other bots in the area that you're there. Annoying to say the least, these will usually run, or they will try to ram you to death. I mistook one for a shield power-up at a distance, but I won't do that again. Name: Class 1 Driller Appearance: Silver with an under-slung Vulcan Cannon Weapon: Vulcan Cannon Threat: Very High Description: These are very dangerous. The like to hide around corners and ambush you as you pass. They make a lot of racket though. Keep your distance, and keep moving at all times, these can chew through your shields very fast. Name: Cloaked Class 1 Driller Appearance: Cloaked Weapon: Vulcan Cannon Threat: Extreme Description: More dangerous, though much rarer, than their visible cousins. They're comparatively silent too. Watch your back. Name: Class 2 Driller Appearance: Dark Brown and Crystalline Weapon: Plasma Cannon Threat: Very High Description: These will chase after you until you either die or blow them up. The plasma cannons they have are about twice as powerful as the one the player gets. They fire rapidly and are usually found in groups of 2-3. Name: PTMC Defense Proto-Type Appearance: Silver and Light Brown Weapon: Lv. 4 Laser (burst) Threat: High Description: These fire a burst of 4 shots in rapid succession then reload. They make a fair amount of noise, but are still deadly. Usually found in groups of 2-3. Name: Laser Platform Robot Appearance: Peach and Sleek Weapon: Lv. 3 Laser (burst) Threat: Medium/Very High Description: Usually found in groups of 2-3 they fire in bursts of 3. Very dangerous at close range, so try to keep your distance. Name: Missiles Platform Robot Appearance: Green and Sleek Weapon: Concussion Missile (burst) Threat: Very High/Extreme Description: Usually found in groups of 2-3 they fire in bursts of 3. Extremely dangerous at close range, so keep your distance. If engaged at close range, kiss your arse goodbye. Name: Gopher Robot Appearance: White and Wedge-shaped Weapon: Proximity Mines Threat: Minimal Description: Though pesky, these bots pose no threat. They run away laying mine after mine. Do yourself a favor and try not to chase after them. On Lv. 20 you have no choice, as one carries the blue key. 3- Player Weapons I know that some of the other FAQs have fancy damage tables, but those are hardly ever accurate. I'm going to give you something that's a lot less stressful your little minds. *Note: Anything in () in the Laser Section pertains to the Quad Power-Up. Weapon: Lv. 1 Laser. Appearance: Orange Attack Power: Very Low (Low) Firing Rate: Average Firing EN Consumption: Very Low (Low) Description: A decent weapon and your most basic one, you'll find yourself looking for power-ups very quickly. Not really useful for taking out stronger bots, but useful for destroying the smaller bots. Weapon: Lv. 2 Laser Appearance: Purple Attack Power: Low (Medium) Firing Rate: Average Firing EN Consumption: Very Low (low) Description: An upgraded version of the Lv. 1 laser. It still lacks the punching power of the Lv. 4 Quads, but is still a good weapon. Weapon: Lv. 3 Laser Appearance: Blue Attack Power: Medium (High) Firing Rate: Average Firing EN Consumption: Very Low (Low) Description: An upgraded version of the Lv. 2 laser. It still lacks the punching power of the Lv. 4 Quads, but is still a good weapon. Weapon: Lv. 4 Laser Appearance: Green Attack Power: High (Very High) Firing Rate: Average Firing EN Consumption: Very Low (Low) Description: The best Lasers in the game. They get significantly better during Lv. 5, when you acquire the Quad Laser Power-Up. For some unknown reason, even to a veteran player, the EN Consumption of the lasers never changes from power level to power level. Weapon: Vulcan Cannon Appearance: Distant Collisions Attack Power: Low Firing Rate: Very High Firing En Consumption: None Description: Though the physical attack power is low, it can really crank the lead out. Very useful if there is lava nearby, as the lava is very explosive. If used like that, you may as well have a flamer installed on your ship. Weapon: Spreadfire Cannon Appearance: Three Blue Energy Blasts (Horizontal then Vertical) Attack Power: Medium Firing Rate: High Firing EN Consumption: Medium Description: Not a good weapon in terms of energy use, but good overall firepower and ability to lay down fire. Not so great at long range, as the shots spread out a lot. Weapon: Plasma Cannon Appearance: Green Energy Blasts Attack Power: Medium Firing Rate: High Firing EN Consumption: High Description: The firing rate and attack power more than make up for the fact that this weapon pigs a lot of energy. Try not to use it if you have less than 100 energy. Weapon: Fusion Cannon Appearance: Purple Energy Globs Attack Power: Very High Firing Rate: Very Low Firing En Consumption: Very High Description: The attack power more than makes up for the other shortcomings of this weapon. The other bonus of it that if there is multiple enemies in a row this will travel through them, increasing in destructive ability with each enemy it passes through. Weapon: Concussion Missile Ammo Appearance: Silver Missiles Ammo Limit: 20 Attack Power: Very High Blast Radius: Small Firing Rate: Average Description: Standard Rockets. Point and shoot. Not much more to say. Oh, don't use it at short range. Weapon: Homing Missile Ammo Appearance: White Missiles with Blue Rings Ammo Limit: 10 Attack Power: Very High Blast Radius: Medium Firing Rate: Average Description: These seek the target. Too bad you only get 10. Don't use at short range. Weapon: Proximity Mine Ammo Appearance: Red Sphere in a Silver Cage Ammo Limit: 10 Attack Power: Very High Blast Radius: Medium Firing Rate: High Description: Not all that useful, as far as I can tell. I try not to pick them up. Useful for when you're being chased by some kind of lifter. Weapon: Smart Missile Ammo Appearance: White Missile with Green Rings Ammo Limit: 5 Attack Power: Very High Blast Radius: Small Firing Rate: Average Description: When this missile strikes a wall it breaks into 5-8 homing plasma blasts. If you think or know there's a robot around the corner or in a room and you can't see him, slam one of these into the floor or wall and give him a nice present! Weapon: Mega Missile Ammo Appearance: Large Red Missile with White Rings Ammo Limit: 5 Attack Power: Extreme Blast Radius: Huge Firing Rate: Slow Description: It homes, it kills most enemies in one hit, and will take out groups of small enemies in one fell swoop. This is possibly the best weapon in the game. Do not use it at short range, as the blast radius alone can be fatal. It takes 8 of these to kill the Mega Hulk at the end of Lv. 7 and 20 to kill the Uber Hulk at the end of Lv. 27. 1-2 will destroy the main reactor. 4- Robot AI Types The robots in the game show various types of AI. Rusher: Runs in guns blazing or tries to ram you to death. (Lifters, Secondary Lifter, Class 1 Drone, Class 2 Driller, PTMC Proto-Type.) Sniper: Will sit at a distance and snap shots off at you. (Super Hulk, Mini- Boss, Medium Hulk.) Coward: Will fire a few rounds, run, fire a few more rounds. Always looking for a place to hide. (Class 2 Drones, Gopher Robots, Small Hulk.) Cunning: Will silently chase after you, waiting for the right moment to strike. (Cloaked Medium Hulk, Medium Hulk, Mini-Boss, Medium and Advanced Lifters.) Random: Hard to tell what it's going to do. (Many Robots exhibit this behavior.) 5- EULA Thanks to GameFAQs for hosting this FAQ, thanks to Interplay and Parallax Software for making Descent. You can contact me at chaosshade2638@yahoo.com. Please do not send me damage tables for the weapons though, as I will delete them. Those tables are not accurate by any means.