Descent: First Strike
Weapons and Powerups
The weapons in Descent I consist of five primarys and five secondarys.
PRIMARIES
LASER CANNON: Standard armament for a Pyro. You start with level 1 lasers, and can get levels 2, 3, and 4, with four being the most powerful. Fires twin or quad bursts.
VULCAN CANNON: Not a particularly powerful weapon, but uses explosive-tipped shells instead of energy --- an important consideration. Should you run out of energy, this weapon will be your only chance of survival, besides missiles. Fires from a central point.
SPREADFIRE CANNON: This weapon fires a triple-round burst of energy, alternating between vertical and horizontal. This is a good weapon throughout the game, and it doesn't guzzle energy either.
PLASMA CANNON: This is the gun of choice for my friend Jim, a confirmed Descenter (although he's not so adept at playing the game itself). It fires green shots of plasma energy, and its not as much of an energy guzzler as some people have been portraying it. Powerful. Another good weapon throughout the game (as soon as you get it on level 8). Fires twin bursts.
FUSION CANNON: Charged up till near bursting with great big globs of purple anti-matter, this weapon is best reserved for clearing out huge hordes of bots, as it sucks down your energy very quickly (although in v1.4 and up they made it use less energy per shot--2 or 3 per tap of the fire key as opposed to 4 or 5. Get the patch here). Useful 'dial-a-charge' feature lets you build up the amount of carnage you need, although if you hold down the button too long it will damage you. Very powerful. Also very interesting to see what happens when you type in 'porgys' in the game. (Can you say "lots and lots of warm purple fuzzies"?)
QUAD LASERS: Modifies your laser system to fire four bolts instead of the usual two. A necessity if you use lasers a lot.
VULCAN AMMO: Gives you more ammunition for your Vulcan Cannon. You can't shoot the Vulcan without ammo, so be sure to pick these up wherever you can. Your ship can hold a maximum of 10,000 rounds.
Here's another vulcan ammo pic.
SECONDARIES
CONCUSSION MISSILE: All-purpose dumbfire rocket. A big help in large battles; makes your job much easier. Can be found just about everywhere, and comes singly or in packs of four.
HOMING MISSILE: This missile is equipped with a tracking warhead that can follow a target around all but the most extreme corners. There is some debate about whether the homer's warhead is bigger than the concussion missile's---some say its bigger, some say its the same size. Regardless, this is a very good weapon. You can hold ten of them; fairly common in the mines. Comes singly or in packs of four.
PROXIMITY BOMB: Mines that are deployed from the rear of your ship. Very useful if you are being pursued in a tight mineshaft. Can hurt you too, however, so be careful.
SMART MISSILE: This weapon's best feature isn't its tasteful green and white paint. After detonation, it flings about a half-dozen green homing bomblets that go after enemies--regardless of range. One of the better secondaries; however, it is fairly rare in the mines. You can hold five at a time.
MEGA MISSILE: Oh boy, where to begin. The Mega Missile, depending who you ask, is either a low-yield nuclear warhead or packed to the gills with conventional explosive. The most powerful weapon in the First Strike universe, this missile is very rare in the mines. You can hold five at one time. Be extremely cautious when using, as it has a very large shock wave that will killl you with one misfire. My personal favorite weapon.
Even though the Mega is my favorite weapon, I wouldn't recommend using it except in areas of extreme infestation where you have plenty of room to avoid its huge blast radius. If you have 5 already and see one as a powerup, my heartiest congratulations for hoarding this missile (I can never find enough). However, like I said, treat with the utmost respect. (If you think the Mega requires you to be cautious, wait till I get to the Earthshaker in D2 or the Blackshark in D3! Not even the Mega is capable of taking your shields down 300 points!!!)
POWERUPS
What does not hurt us, makes us stronger. Especially if it is one of these babies.
CLOAKING DEVICE: This powerup makes you invisible to robots, and homing weapons can't lock on to you. Cloaks last for 30 seconds apiece, and no, you can't store them. (Maybe in Descent 4....)
EXTRA LIFE: This powerup gives you another ship with which to inflict some more damage on the robot populace. Somewhat hard to find.
SHIELD: This orb boosts your shields, up to a maximum of 200. It gives you anywhere from 18 points (trainee) to 6 (insane). Grab these wherever you can.
ACCESS KEYS: While not a powerup per se, these keys nonetheless are crucial to your mission. You need them to get past the blue, yellow, and red security doors to destroy the reactor and get out. Usually heavily guarded.
ENERGY: This powerup boosts your energy up to a maximum of 200. Like shields, the energy boost is anywhere from 18 points (trainee) to 6 (insane).
HOSTAGE: These are the people you are trying to rescue. If your ship is destroyed while carrying some hostages, you lose them all. If you make it out alive with all the hostages alive, however, you get a bonus. Unsure if there is a maximum number your ship can carry. One would hope not...
INVULNERABILITY: This orb makes your ship immune to enemy attacks for 30 seconds. Hard to find, usually needed when you do find one (they are placed at some of the toughest points in the game).
This section completed 10/12/99