Newbie's Missables

Frustrated with the lack of clarity in the game's visual design, I made this guide to point out a few important objects in the levels, easily missed by new players, that can't possibly be known of ahead of time.

VERY IMPORTANT

Buttons aka Switches aka Control Panels

These things, which motivated me to write this guide, may be found in the levels.

They look like a mere part of the environment, and look like the Non-Interactable Red Arrows further down, and their red color would indicate an inactive state anywhere else in design, but in this game they are actually interactable and very important for uncovering secrets, and even locked-door keys.
They can be destroyed through shooting.

Here is one on the floor in the bottom-left, destroyed, in level 09 Titan Collider. It opens the path to an unintuitively reached room:

Secret Doors

These may also be found in the levels. Touch them and they'll open.

Look Out!

Now that you know what these things look like, you will waste less time wandering around aimlessly.
Be on the lookout for them!

Fundamental Ship Features

Headlights

Is the game too dark?
Press H to activate headlights.

Sticky Flares

Is it still too dark?
Hold F to throw a Sticky Flare.
Press F to throw a Bouncy Flare.
If only I'd known about the former sooner...!

Hologuide

Getting lost?
Hold Z to give a command to the hologuide, which will show you the way to your target.
Press Z to de/activate it

Interactables

Doors

Besides just going through them, you can shoot them to open them beforehand.

Ammo Pickups

This is Secondary Weapon ammo, for the Falcon specifically.
There are other ammo types, such as Super Missiles, which are rarer secondary weapons.

'Gear' Pickups

Energy (used as secondary ammo for certain weapons):
Armor:
Ordinary Upgrade Point:
Key:

Reactors

These generate shields/forcefields around other objects. Can be destroyed.

Cryotubes

Touch them to "pick them up".

Non-Interactables

Arrows

These arrows have the same visual design as the Button, but are not interactable.

Lit Locked Door Discs

These discs have the same visual design as the Button, but like the Arrows, are not interactable.

[Pickle Bird]

descent was hellish for secret doors, later levels they looked near imperceivable from the surrounding environment then....

THEN D2 introducing those damned control panels making so not only did you have to find the impossible to see door but also a little panel ROOMS away sometimes tucked behind some mesh and/or around an inaccessible corner where you needed a bounce cannon to hit.

if i recall at there were some doors in D1/2 that were trip wire activated and you had to race to them, honestly surprised I've not come across any like that yet

only a few levels into overload but it really does feel like I've just loaded up an old save in D2; painful, hectic and challenging, oh my love of the labyrinthine mines are why i have such decent spacial perception i swear

shooting lava was always a fun tactic

[minimaxplexus]

Didn't think there are markers in the original, I think that was just introduced in Descent 2 also.

[Lynceus Glaciermaw]

Descent veteran here.

Good guide! Just to give some context and background, there are a few things here that will make a little more sense when you consider where they came from (Descent):

- Interactables and headlights were only added in Descent 2. The former were destructable control panels and stood out more than the ones in Overload do.

- Shooting doors used to be the only way to open them - as a Pyro-jockey it's actually news to me that the doors in Overload are automatic!

- The energy/armor pickups are direct references to energy/shield pickups in Descent.

- The secret doors have always been that hard to find, trust me! And YES, you DO develop trust issues with random walls once becoming wise to what secrets can look like.

- Descent 2 introduced the guide-bot (mine was named Kit)... in the original we only had the map and markers!

[Puppies]

Thank you!

[kwtwo]

Thank you

[x]

Woot woot raise the roof, thank you for your service

[Galgamos Snowpaw]

This is amazing. Thank you!