Notable Former Residents
Arch_Angel, B4, dramu
Retired Residents
kiln, scream, UsuL, Z
| ATHENA is a small level that lends itself to dogfighting and fast action. The tunnel rat is a victim here, since most of the passages are readily accessible for ambush by an opponent sitting out in the main room. This level is favored by the aggressive types. It is similar to Minerva but small enough to keep two people in constant exchange of fire. |
| "The only IDL match that I distinctly remember (besides, of course, the latest one with zapp) was when I played Kiln. Although I was not to find out until later (Sirian informed me) that this was his home level, Kiln gave me a spanking that I will *never* forget. This is a level that I had many hours on, but time and time again Kiln would lead me around a corner trying to get a few scratches on his shiny pyro and I'd fly true... straight into the mighty purple. doh! I think he got his first five or so kills in this manner. I'll have to start watching out for these pilots and their home levels!" |
-dramu
| "I thought it was a good game. I used the spreadfire to hold him back as much as I could, but his fusion and wacky moves just overwhelmed me." |
-Chipmunk
| "He f***ing kicked my ass. Twice. And it still hurts, too. :)" |
-Sirian
| "Spreadfire and Rott just go together, I think. He's deadly with it, and it's a powerful weapon in D1. I tend to use it myself, now, as I seem to have the most luck with it." |
-Chipmunk
| "I played rott in his D1 home to check him out for how to cast my vote in regard to his promotion to the First Tier. And after he beat me 20 16 and conducted himself well, I gave him my vote. Playing this kid reminds me of playing my old bud, Corpse, back in the day. Corpse was the original Spreadfire King; he used nothing else, ever, and made an alarming habit of kicking my butt in most games. I remember one game in particular, being squeezed between Kiln's fusion and Corpse's spreadfire, and me with my little toy gun (plasma) firing mostly blanks as they tore me up. Rott may well be the premiere spreadfire player on the IDL, and he can surprise you with an occasional change up to something else when the mood suits him. Athena is his home and he knows it well." |
-Sirian
| "If I remember correctly this was dramu's first IDL match, and not only did he decide to play me, but he decided to play me in his home level (whoops). He was still trying to scrape the rust off of his pyro-gx when he got into this little battle with me. And little can't describe it any better. Athena as most people know is TINY! And from what I can tell shouldn't be played on anything but LAN. At least neither me nor dramu would consider doing it for a match otherwise. And suffice to say I bashed up his pyro at a startling 20 to 14. I just can't fly in those tight areas. But my yellow pyro still managed to run over the little kid while he was trying to pick his "descent fliers manuals" off the ground." |
-fathom
| "When I challenged scream to a vendetta, I pulled out all the stops and laid it on the line: I would play him in both of his home levels with the third game in one of my homes. We played all three games in one 5 hour period, and screamy later called it "His Descent Armageddon with Sirian". The kid is really tough in Io in D2. It's the level where he earned his Cross Maxius. But in Athena he is like possessed or something, like a Demon from Hell. I got three quick fusion kills on him and then that was that. He kicked my ass pretty bad in most fights, when he had possession of the sausage slinger. I was the victim of malpractice via laser surgery, and when I ran low on blood he gladly donated some plasma to help me out. Thank god for the holy grail: fusion. We each would earn several kills in a row, again and again, as I painted him purple, then struggled to get my gun back once he had taken it. This is easily the biggest game of my entire Descent career, and I'll tell you this: I went to Hell and back with scream in Athena that night. And only divine intervention and the almighty fusion cannon brought me home in one piece." :) |
-Sirian
| "Z is my bud, and everytime I play him he seems to have improved. Well one day I challenged him in his D1 home, Athena, a level I have probably logged 1000 hours in. Z and I are very similar players -- we like a lot of the same levels and love to be spread-ho's. I find when I play Athena there are very few people who know where I am going on that level. But Z seemed comfortable, and knew where to shoot the little blue balls. There was a lot of back and forth ho-ing going on, with the game centering around the hall where the vulcan starts with the two doors. Most of the action was around there, flushing players in and out. He pulled some tricks that surprised me, and bashed my Pyro too! There was not only spread ho'ing but vulcan-o-plenty. Green stuff was scarce, and the ho's were happy. :) The game played very fast with a lot of running, then charging, and some excellent dodging on the part of both players. I think he had like 4 level one laser kills, which were just hilarious. I would win a dogfight, only to instantly have lev 1 and concussions down my throat. *doink* You killed Birdseye! It was an enjoyable match, and the game fluctuated between a 1 and 2 kill lead for me for a long time, about to the 13th kill. Until I found the purple stuff. I felt hot with the cannon, and he was mothing. I think 5 out of my last 7 kills were fusion, and if I hadn't gotten hot with the purple power, I think this match could have gone into OT. The last two kills he had were all with 10 sheilds, which was impressive, and I admire the never give up attitude. Right after the game Z said he needed to work on his anti-moth skillz, and I know he will. He's been working with some of the best players around to improve, and I am certain next time around he won't moth so much, and give me an even more enjoyable game than I already had with him, which is saying a lot. Another bus driver for my wall, but pretty soon Z won't be the one riding in the back seat." |
-Birdseye
"I was quite surprised to see that EgaD had made it to uberfest. In
actuality, it happened that I joined a KFF game and he was the host, and
the only other person in the game. I asked if it was really him and he
said yes...so I proceeded to introduce him to lan-life. :) I killed him
about 9 times in a row, most of them 1 shot kills then jabbed "Welcome
to LAN, EgaD" hehe. Well anyway, once we started to play IDL matches he
wanted to play his home, so I said that it was fine. I knew he didn't
have the LAN experience he needed to take me down, unless I was
completely lost in the level. We played Athena NH, his home and the
game was very short. Almost every encounter ended in someone dying. I
don't think the game took more than 15-20 minutes, although it may have
just FELT like it was going fast. I think I caught him sneaking into the secret room from under the grate,
and I killed him there. I also got him several times peeking out of the
doors on the side of the level. He just didn't seem to be able to get a
good grasp on me this game. Of course, EgaD told me that he was playing handicapped. This explains
why the match was so easy for me to win. His joystick and keyboard were
broken, and his monitor was turned off and he had no sound. All that
considered, I think he did pretty good and if he ever gets to actually
see and hear the game during a match, I'll fear for my life for the 20-0
shutout I'll get at his hands! (this was an inside joke between EgaD
and myself, if you couldn't tell). I had fun EgaD, looking forward to
playing you again. You're a good sport, a good player, and a nice guy.
And I like watching you play, and you know why :)"
|
-LordDeath
| "It was a nice, close game throughout. EgaD used a very canny combination of guile, dogfighting, and weapon change-ups. The last 5 kills were excruciating. We'd go at it for 2 solid minutes, he'd die. I'd have 15 shields left. He'd pop up out of nowhere and blindside me getting a kill. We'd go at it again with the same result. He finally pulled ahead at the very end for a nail-biting 23 to 21 win." |
-ENDER
| Athena NH "Uggh. Three words describe this game: he owned me! He camped the dogfight room, avoiding the tunnels and halls almost altogether, because, as he said after the game "I (he) would have lost it flying around in there." I started out trying to do the "athena rhythm" where I fly around the level, popping in and out of every door, confusing my opponent. At 11-7 him I gave up this strategy, and basically said to myself "I guess I'll just have to work on my dogfighting for the rest of this match." Forced to charge into the dogfight room while he tossed purple sausage at me, the game was hopeless, and I gave up my first IDL crown to him. I looked pretty pathetic in the dog room that game, and vowed some sort of dogfighting revenge in the future. This match inspired me to work on my dogfighting as much as I possibly could, and I surprised EgaD in my next match with him by actually killing him several times in the dogroom! I think I kept about even with him that game, but his dogfighting prowess is still amazing, and much better than mine. Athena NH is truly a good home for EgaD, and if you want to EARN a busdriver, this is a good place to die." :) |
-Birdseye
| Athena NH "This was a game I had promised EgaD long before I rose to #1 this time around. In fact it had been so long, I had to remind him about it. We had done Greenland two matches prior and he had camped the main room the whole game, and I boated the smarts at will and they helped me run up the score in what would have been a closer match without the missiles. Then we played Second Heaven, a level where he had strong performances against some other UTs... and I dogged him with quad6 vs whatever he was using (he tried everything) and he just couldn't hit me, and HE was the one to take the game out of the dogfight room and into the tunnels when it got to 8-1, and though I still doubled his score from that point on, he did manage to start hitting me in the tighter areas. After that match, we had talked for a while, and he wanted some tips, expressing his frustration that he just never got beat that way, except from me, and what was he doing wrong? So after we discussed his game a while, he requested a match the next weekend in his home level... but I was busy with putting the IDL site update together, and we didn't play when the time came around. And he retired for a few weeks before I managed to have the time on a Sunday (his day of choice). "So he asks me for a game this morning. I remind him of my promise, and I'm ranked #1, so he gets a title shot in his home level... something I've never had, and which doesn't come along all that often (I've defended in my homes, but never challenged -- well, actually I challenged Karash once in FRP but he declined, saying he wasn't just going to HAND me #1 like that, so we did Manes instead, and he said I'll get my FRP game some other time...) EgaD told me he was used to Kali, and since he was calling me for the match, he wanted a warmup to 5 kills in another level. We warmed up in Io. And when I got to 5 2 he wanted two more kills, and I obliged. At 7 4, he said he was ready, so we switched to the real deal. And shortly after the first kill, D1X crashed for no apparent reason -- first time it ever actually crashed on me, too. So he redialed me, and we both spawned in the main room, so we grabbed the nearest gun and went at it. My goodness, he was hard to hit. Luckily, I was harder to hit. And that about sums up this match. I had a flawless game -- NO mistakes. No quick deaths for me at any point. He hit me with half a fusion shot maybe 2 or 3 times... spreadfire no more than 3 dots hitting me in a whole fight... plasma less than 50 damage per fight... he only used lasers when that was all he had. This being NH, there were no homers. And though he went boating for the smart and had it maybe 6 or 7 times during the game, I took no damage from that. This was purely a gun battle, and though that's where EgaD thrives most, it's my strength too. His vulcan is what hurt me most. I evaded a lot of it, but he hosed me down with it many a time. I remember one fight where I was pressing him in the main room with the spread, and he dodged ALL my shots for the whole fight and gave me paper cuts to the sum of 72 damage. I limped away finally, as I got low on juice. For the most part I tried not to overexpose myself to his vulcan. EgaD had actually thrashed Birdseye in here once, and he had taken Ender to overtime; it was his home for a reason. So I played a lot of peekaboo when he had any vulcan available, often using my own vulcan to nick him back, and I turned aggressive after he spent most or all of his ammo. I got several fusion hits, some of them game breakers, but he only mothed twice. His fusion dodging was really superb. He tried some serious aggression at times, venturing into the ratty areas with murder on his mind, but he just couldn't make me pay. Maybe close to half the damage he got on me, he got from the vulcan cannon. I switched between the fusion and the spread a lot and I was so caught up in the action, I didnt even notice when the game ended until EgaD pointed it out. He was disappointed with his 9 points. But when I asked him if he felt his game wasn't sharp, he said no, he felt good. He just didn't understand how he came away with only 9. And I am not sure I do either. I got a couple of brutal fusion hits on him, but only one that he probably should have just not let hit him. He walked into a situation a few times, but really not many. He played smart, his dodging was top notch, his vulcan was simply brutal and he didnt give up any respawn kills -- at most, half his shield 2 or 3 times. So how did I more than double his score if he wasn't screwing up and all the elements of his game were executed well? The only explanation I have comes back to one thing: flawless. This is the first game I can ever remember where I didn't make a single bad move or wrong decision all game long. And I have played a heck of a lot of matches." |
-Sirian
| "LAN is the home of the Jedi weapon, use the force! And boy did I. I kept yelling: "Go... THERE!" and UsuL seemed to oblige me. Contrary to my normal playstyle of the online world, I tried to force as much in the dog room as I could. There was plenty of flying around the level, though, which is what I love most about Athena. And at some points, on a level I have played so many times, UsuL made me feel like I was in someone else's house. He played an excellent run of athena, totally surprising me by popping out to kill me in the energy bay twice. I couldn't hit him with spread as much as I would have liked, but I made up for that with Slurpy style vulcan whoring. The match was tied at 16 all, until I was able to make a few but squeezing fusion kills to knock him out for the count, at 20-17. UsuL lost the LAN vendetta on this match (the first game was in IO), but he certainly did get his revenge in Keg Party a few minutes later to finish up the vendetta!" |
-Birdseye
| "This was my second LAN game with Z, and it centered around the fusion and spread. It was definately a HUGE difference from playing him on kali, instead of a long drawn out match of running back and forth and camping, we really went at each others throats. But the difference was the fusion. I strang together 4 kills in a row with the da purple shit, and that was all the lead I needed. He seemed very inexperienced with the fusion, unable to string together two fusion hits in any given dogfight. The Jedi weapon lead me to this tough win of 20-17, and this match locked in my mind that Z will make UT in the future. His vulcan use was superb, and he has learned to camp the spew well. His spread in particular impressed me, he was scoring more hits with it than I could. My only savior was the brutality of LAN vulcan... and me using a mouse, it is just point, and click." :) |
-Birdseye
 |
ATHENA is one of the finest levels ever constructed for head to head Descent play. Spaz, the master of Descent level design, wanted to create a level that achieved everything he sought to accomplish with Minerva, including the things that did not turn out as he expected. While "Minerva" is the Roman name for the Goddess of War, "Athena" is her name in Greek, and after all that happened to Minerva after its release, Spaz felt a need to disavow that level and replace it with a true masterpiece, to honor the Goddess of War with a level truly worthy of her name: Athena. And a masterpiece it is. Where Minerva is one of the most beloved levels among newbies and those who play open multiplayer pick-up games on Kali, Athena is a highly favored level among elite head to head players. And there are many reasons why. |
| The level is very small, and it is difficult to mislead your opponent as to what you are doing. There is a special design feature incorporated into this level whereby missiles tend to respawn in an inaccessible cube where a mega is on display. As a result, the missile supply dwindles and eventually drops to zero, leaving players with only the primary weapons. You cannot win matches on this level by running for missiles time and again; you MUST engage in battle with guns to be victorious. The lone fusion cannon is tucked in a secret compartment above a tunnel. This is the level's only secret area, and you can catch a glimpse of all the captured missiles from here. |  |
 |
There are no defensible spots on this level. If you choose to sit and play the passive game, your opponent will always have countermoves at his disposal. Even so, this is far from a straight up dogfight level. You have to use your mind to outwit your opponent almost as much as you rely on your skill to outfight him, so you are advised to be well versed in both dogfight and tunnel skills, and in the use of and defense against all five primary weapons. |
| D2 Athena Because of the difference in the way weapons behave in D2, a game in Athena naturally plays different than it does in D1. But only the spread and fusion lovers are likely to feel the pinch. For plasma users, it's the same game, only a bit faster because of the burners. There is one gauss, but without the racks of extra ammo found in some D2 levels, you will not be able to use it as your only weapon. Athena in D2 is just as much fun as it is in D1, and so we give it an Overall Rating of 9. |
| Athena OW Because of the difference in the way that missiles respawn in D2, the homers and smarts do NOT get trapped in the missile catcher like they do in D1. As a result, the homer supply rarely dwindles and the missiles play a larger role in Athena OW. Also, with two vulcans and tons of ammo to start the game, vulcan plays a much larger role. Unless you make a point of using up the ammo, it can quickly build to a point at which someone can fire vulcan nonstop for minutes on end. This detracts from the usual quick flow of an Athena game. Fortunately in D2, you can leave weapons out, so this need not be the case if players do not desire it. Same for the homers. Overall Rating: 8 |
-Ratings-
| Level Name | DF | TR | TM | TP | EB | GM | 3D | WF | CR | LV | ST | Overall | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Athena | 8 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 10! | x |
| D2 Athena | 8 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 9 | x |
| Athena OW | 8 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 8 | JK |
| Back to the IDL War Journal |
There is an NH version of Athena for those who want to start without homers.
The reactor in Athena is located in a spot that further hamper's the runner by giving
away his position if he sticks to the open tunnel area. The doors give him
away if he sticks to the other side. So the advantage usually goes to the
player who controls the main room.
This level receives a rating of 10 on overall design.
