Chording
By Birdseye
There are a few basic things to controlling your descent ship- the first is
called triple chording. This involves sliding in two directions at once while
accelerating (or going "forward"). Triple chording causes the ship to move at
1.7x normal speed. It is a very large advantage over most other pilots, who will
be traveling much slower speed. You'll have to triple chord if you want to
compete with any veteran descent pilot. I STRONGLY recommend learning this.
Before reading this section, I recommend playing through the Descent 3 training
mission (the first mission under start a new game). Once you have done that, you
should be familiar with slides. In case not, I have gone over them one more
time.
In your pilot control configuration, there are the options of delegating slide
keys. Slide up, down, left, and right. There is also slide on, but I wouldn't
bother with that. Select four keys relatively closely together (or a combination
of buttons and keypresses- this is discussed more specifically in the controls
section). Delegate each of them to be a slide- up, down, left, and right. Now
jump into a descent level- press the slide left key down. You'll notice your
ship is being "pushed" left while you are moving forward. Now let go of the left
key, and press the slide right key. Now you'll be pushed right. Notice that if
you hold down both slide left and slide right, you will not move at all. Now do
the same with the slide up and down keys- they push you up or down also, and if
you press both at once, again, you will not move at all. Now, just pressing one
slide key while moving forward is considered "double chording," because it moves
your ship on two axises- forward and left/right or up/down. This increases your
ship speed, but you can increase it even more with triple chording. This time
when you hold slide left- try holding down slide down in conjunction with slide
left. You'll be pushed down and to the left. You may need to angle your control
device to keep you going straight while triple chording. Now try alternating
holding slide left and right while still holding slide down. Remember never to
hold both left or right or up and down at once; you will not gain any speed or
move in any specified direction. Alternating those left and right keys while
holding slide down and moving forward will allow you to move much more freely
than if you had just moved forward. You're now able to move in more directions
faster. The slide keys are pretty intuitive- hold slide down + left if you'd
like to move down and left, hold up + right if you'd like to move up and to the
right.
Now that you can slide left and right while sliding down, try sliding up while
alternating left and right. Next try holding left down and alternating up and
down, and then holding right down and alternating up and down.
A) The Uses of Triple chording
Triple chording in a sense is like walking- you should almost always be triple
chording in descent, except for select times. It helps you dodge- it gets your
pyro out of situations previously impossible by just moving forward. The
important part of the triple chording is the fluidity- that you are always
chording except when you need to stop or move slowly. Note that you should even
be triple chording while you apply the afterburner. It will improve your game by
ten fold, and to hang with any veteran in multiplayer, you'll need to learn how
to do it. And in single player, triple chording allows the pyro to run circles
around the bots.
Editor's Note: Once you have mastered triple chording as described above, start
practicing BACKWARDS triple-chording. This is a fast way to retreat from an
opponent while keeping the business end of your pyro pointed at him!
B) The Importance of Banking
Once you've mastered triple chording, it is time to learn the bank, or roll. A
lot of players ignore the bank left and bank right keys in their configuration,
and if they do have them in their configurations, they seldom use them.
Delegate two keys to banking left of right- ignore the bank on option (whether
you're using joystick or a mouse, check the controls section on how to set up
the bank). Now press the bank left key- you'll notice your ship rolling the
left, and after a few seconds, you'll complete a full circle without moving
forward. Do the same with the bank right, and then start chording around a level
while playing with the bank left and right keys.
C) Uses of the bank
The bank is paramount to the two main parts of descent- dodging and shooting.
Banking left or right is particularly advantageous when a shot is coming right
for your ship. Instead of turning your control device in order to get out of the
way of the incoming shot, instead it is often possible to roll under or above a
shot using the bank key. Banking left or right can also help you pinpoint your
shots. Not only that, but it helps randomize your shots a bit more. If you're
always firing at someone with your pyro parallel to the ground, your shots may
become predictable and easy to dodge. If you bank while you shoot, you can
create odd angles of plasma or microwave cannon shots. These angled shots prove
much harder to dodge for your opponent than when your pyro is at a fixed,
straight up position. Best of all, you can alternate banks and change the angles
at which you shoot, so your opponent will never get comfortable while you fire
at them. They'll have to dodge in a new manner each time. Also Banking provides
the fastest way to turn a corner in Descent3 - it allows you to triple chord
while rounding the corner! Try it and practice it!