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 [email protected].  Please do not send me damage
tables for the weapons though, as I will delete them.  Those tables are not
accurate by any means.

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