🚀 go-pugleaf

I recently finished the shareware levels of Descent (hotshot difficulty) 
and thought I'd post my observations/tips concerning the different AI 
tactics of the drones: Possible spoilers follow..



Gold drones: Aggressive and nimble. Will not make too much of an effort 
to take cover, and seem to have limited patience with hide-and-shoot  
tactics from the player. Once they're cornered, they are likely to jump 
in your face. If encountered in numbers, they will all try to rush and 
overwhelm the player. They also seem to get themselves easily disoriented
- I've seen numerous occasions where one of them will ambush me from 
around a corner and hesitate to shoot. Sometimes, their engine nacelles 
will stick out a bit past a corner, giving themselves away. If you have 
concussion missiles to spare, fire one at the wall behind them, trying to 
get it as close as possible. This usually takes care of them, before they 
get a chance to jump out and attack.
 
Blue Drones: These guys seem to be the least predictable of the lot. 
Sometimes they're content to hide in a corner and wait for you, while 
other times, they'll go on the offensive. Their small size make them hard 
to hit when they hide, although in spite of their size they don't seem 
particularly maneuverable, and can be handled fairly easily in large  
open areas.
 
Large Dark Green Drones: Not very aggressive. Likely to find a good place 
to hide and shoot from there. If there isn't one available, they tend to 
find the nearest wall\obstacle to shield themselves and peek-and-shoot. 
Their green lasers are slow moving but quite dangerous, and can be a bit 
of a problem as their lasers are sometimes difficult to see against the 
green crosshairs of your gunsight.
 
Light Green Lifters: In a word, cannon fodder<G>. Aggressive, and fairly 
fast, but their zombie-like stupidity prevents them from becoming too 
much of a nuisance. They try to take the most direct line of flight 
towards the player, and often this means they get themselves snagged on a 
corner or ledge. They also have no projectile weapons, but will attack 
with their large cutting arms and can do considerable damage if they get 
close enough to use them. The best way to deal with these bots is to let 
them chase you far enough where you can blast them, then take their 
shields without worry of exposing yourself to snipers in the process. 
They have some limited defensive maneuvers, dodging incoming laser and 
rocket fire if room permits.
They also come in the invisible variety, and this is where their lack of 
weapons and aggressiveness helps them, for they are almost impossible to 
see, especially in dark areas. Fortunately, they make a distinct 
squealing noise that sets them apart from their visible brethren that 
alerts you to their presence. If one is suspected, shoot a flare, as the 
brighter the lighting makes them easier to spot.
 
Vulcan-Drones: Nasty. They behave much like the gold drones, right down 
to the jump in your face routine, but these guys are armed with a Vulcan 
cannon, and can make awful quick work of you if you get caught in their 
sights. Fortunately, they are not very tough, but the best weapon for 
them is the guided missile. Fire it, and get the hell out of their 
crosshairs. They are usually large and white, but it seems like I have 
seen them in other colors as well..
 
Large Brown Drones: Look a lot like the large dark green drones, and 
share some of the same characteristics, except that they fire unguided 
rockets. Even tho their weapons cannot aquire you, you can still take 
a large amount of damage from the proximity blasts when the rockets hit a 
nearby wall. I find the best weapon for these drones is the Vulcan 
cannon, as they can take a lot of punishment, and the quick rate of fire 
stuns them enough to prevent them from firing back.
 
Red Spider-drones. Fairly easy opponents. Not too aggressive, not very 
fast, and their large size prevents them from hiding well. The only 
problem is when you destroy them, they "fragment" into four tiny 
spiderlings, each armed with a laser weapon. Then they become everything 
they weren't as a group: Small, fast, nimble, and very aggressive. I had 
one chase me down a long length of corridor once, and when I stopped to 
turn around and fight, it was gone. I though I had outrun him, and as 
soon as I turned to go back, he pounded me from above :) I generally use 
the Spreadfire gun on the big spiders, so that when they fragment, I'll 
be firing with a weapon that has a large field of fire.
 
Large Red Missile Launchers: Pretty much the same as the large brown 
ones, but fire guided missiles. They seem to leave themselves out in the 
open a bit more, presumably to leave room for the missile to aquire you.
I recommend a mix of Vulcan and guided missiles on these guys.
 
Level Seven Boss: It took me four tries to get through this, and it's 
fairly simple once you get the courage to go into that large room :)
The first three tries, I got hosed by his little missile-launching 
lackeys. After that, the trick is to stay against the large column in the 
center of the room, taking shelter in one of the column's passages when 
necessary. Once you venture back out, keep hugging the wall and keep 
moving, especially if he is cloaked. Once he is visible, give yourself 
some cover by putting the column between you and him, leaving just 
enough of him exposed to get off a shot. It seemed to me he would not 
fire while in the cloaking/uncloaking stage and I would use the 
opportunity to unload some weaponry :) If he does fire, try to get on the 
opposite side of the column and hug the wall, jumping into one of the 
passageways if it's available. His missiles do some awesome damage - I 
lost 125 pts of shield energy on one hit, and was down to 11 pts when I 
finally wasted him..

                             Jon