descentchampions.org

So I guess here's a heady discussion for anyone better at this than me (everyone): what's the X-factor behind being able to go from moment-to-moment reaction, to getting a read on an opponent's position and movement between fights, to a point-to-point strategy, to shaping an entire match's meta?

I'm getting slightly better at the first (if at all), but that might as well be basic math stacked next to the integral calculus of the rest of those. Overall I still I feel like I'm flying at half-speed and getting seen through walls constantly -- it's frustrating to try and read/punish what might be a mistake that's right in front of me, let alone capitalize on any kind of weakness I can find in my opponent (generally none). I get the sense that when punching upward out of my skill level, a majority of my kills are luck or 3rd-partying, or at least it feels that way. I'm trichording and rolling-to-pitch and listening for pickups and weapon switches and all that jazz, but so often a lot of that piloting is to dodge away from incoming fire while throwing missiles somewhere, anywhere, hoping to land a hit -- which leaves me with an option to get caught on a wall or catch incoming fire. I'm less aiming than spraying and praying in well over half the fights I'm in. I have the mechanics, in a sense, but I couldn't even tell you my own strategy outside the next five seconds, let alone anyone else's except for some obvious stuff like 'fresh spawn, they're gonna look for weapons' or 'I heard them change weapons nearby', etc,.

What's the first step to get a pilot from reactionary flying and elementary setups/camps at my level to something more structured? Is it this mythical 'headgame' that comes with Too Much Practice -- and how do you define/practice that to begin with? Is it just better piloting? Map knowledge? Interested to hear some thoughts from folks here.

(Also, hi, I play a lot of overload and sometimes this too before semi-retiring after 7-match sets with Lee, most of you probably know me by now lol)

Skill is built by pressure and margin.

Pressure comes from pushing yourself, taking on harder fights, harder opponents, more unusual circumstances, faster pace. It pushes you and makes you faster and sharper, it exposes your own weaknesses and forces you to become stronger.

Margin comes from taking on challenges you know you can beat and doing them better, more perfectly, more creatively. Taking a moment to back off from a hard fight and choose an easier one, playing an opponent who is worse than you. It gives you room to experiment and try new tactics, to make things work even when you haven't figured out how to do them yet.

The right opponent can give you both at different times and places. You need both in your life.

If you don't know how to control your ship, nothing will cure this but practice. But you need to practice honing things you CAN do in order to become perfect at them, and attack things you CAN'T do until you can. Once you can control your ship, learning to dogfight is a next step. Against a worse pilot, you will learn how to win. Against a better pilot, you will push what you know harder and faster and learn how to be better still. To learn level positioning and traps, play against someone slower than you. It is much easier than you think - with time and agility on your side, the right moves will be surprisingly obvious. To get good, play against someone faster. To learn meta strategy, play against someone who doesn't think about it but can beat you in one area and not another. To get good at it, find someone you can go to overtime with and play a deep one and struggle to win.

Information is a third source of progress. Watch demos from pilots you want to be like. Learn consciously and unconsciously how they move. Watch your own demos. The game is too fast for learning in real time. Watch a fight. Pause. How did you die? What should you have done? Watch your opponent leave the room. Pause. Where do you think he's going? Have you read ALL the clues? What's your best move? Or should you make two moves? Unpause. Were you right?

Play down. Play up. Learn from both. Go slow and review, and learn from that. Fix problems. Take care of your equipment. If a trichord direction is sloppy, fix it. If you have trouble against vulcan, find some and fight it. Eventually controlling yourself, your emotions and yoyr opponent's, will be the the biggest thing to work on. At that point you will be struggling to shape the match's meta and... at that point you can tell me what to do next because that's where I'm currently at.

Drak is right. There is something to be learned regardless of your opponent's skill level. No pain no gain. Don't be afraid to play the best and get destroyed over and over. You might think consciously that you are learning little but trust me you will gain much from it over time. Don't play down to your opponent's current skill level. You owe him your BEST on every kill. Destroy him 20-0 IF you can. He will learn from your best and nothing less. Be careful about getting good at something and then relying on it too much. If you do this it will hold you back and hinder the speed of your progress and become a crutch.

What separates the great pilots from the good ones? What separates the good ones from the ok ones? I believe we all are capable of learning to master the mechanics of flying the ship and shooting the weapons. There is a max speed of tri-chording that we can all obtain but cannot exceed. Once we have all achieved these fundamentals what then separates us? I believe that the speed of our reflexes, the speed of information calculation and execution need to be worked on. Some of us will do this naturally faster than others but it must always be worked on.

Bronze pilots fly around and shoot in the general vicinity of their enemy. They tend to fly in the direction of their enemy and chase them until they themselves die in foolish pursuit. But, they are learning.

Silver pilots still chase their enemies but will back off when it is not working out for them. By and large, their game is reactionary. They are inspecting every light source and every sound. Their mechanics are superior to the bronze pilot. They have gotten fairly quick and accurate but their decision making is hit and miss and the speed at which these decisions are made has room for improvement.

Gold pilots have mastered what their pyro can and can not do. They have eliminated many of their inherent weaknesses as it relates to mechanics. Gold pilots are very good with more than 1 weapon
and better than average with a couple more and not so great with 1 or 2. They do not blindly react to what their enemy is doing. They charge when appropriate and show aggression when it benefits them most. They back off and camp to change the pace of the game because they recognized the need for it. A Gold pilot is dictating what happens in the game more so than reacting to what is happening. A Gold pilot will not waste opportunities as often as a silver pilot but will still swing and miss at times. (don't we all?) A Gold pilot realizes that every kill matters. A Gold pilot has developed a stronger mind game and can maintain that mind game for longer than most but generally not from start to finish in more than one game.

Diamond pilots: I am hesitant to describe this category of pilot for fear of someone thinking I am bragging or tooting my own horn. I will simply say that when you have reached Diamond you are capable of controlling the tempo of a game. You are capable of killing an opponent with any weapon you have handy even if your opponent has the stronger weapon because you have mastered execution and mind game and will wield both at all times. Your reaction speed might be similar to Gold pilots and it might be faster but your decision making is more often the right decision than the wrong. A Diamond player can maintain the mind game from start to finish and can continue on through several games before showing signs of mental fatigue. A Diamond player will make you think he is faster than you. You KNOW he can't fly his pyro faster than yours but somehow he feels faster than you by a half step and sometimes by a full step. His aim is on point. His mind game trickery will make you believe in magic at times or that he is hacking A Diamond pilot has the will to dig deep and fight til the death even when losing 19-10. He believes that he should always win and because he believes he CAN he more often than not does.

"Cyrus became Jedi's equal in just 9 months!"

my equal???
MY EQUAL??????

flat delusional.

He became very competitive vs me but certainly not my equal in all Descent aspects. Including competitive longevity, it would seem.

Things to add to your repertoire:

Door-fu
Colum-fu
Hitting the Brakes
ABE

ABE = Always Be Escapin', btw.

If only he was as easy to bait in game as he is IRL...

When is the last time Cyrus did THIS -> to you Melvin?

cuz for me....it was about 5 minutes ago