Overdrive - when best to use it?

[reddevil63]

Trying to judge the best time to deploy this in a song as I normally mixed it up ie let the bar fill up and deploy or wait til at least half filled.

What do fellow RB'ers do?

Do you wait for a full bar?

Do you deploy as soon as the bar is halfway?

Mixed it up or it all depends on the song?

[Spidey987]

I don't think it matters whether it's half filled or full, it's when you trigger it that's important. I'm never quite sure myself either, should you trigger it when you know lots of notes are upcoming or should you trigger it when the song has slowed down and your overdrive lasts longer? I normally go with the former but then my overdrive doesn't seem to last very long.

[drskhaled]

It all depends on your ability and the difficulty of the song. For easy songs best to hit OD during parts with lots of notes and chords as this is where the maximum points are, obviously if youre going for points be confident you wont miss a note otherwise the multiplier drops to 2X (rather than 8X). On songs with extreme solo's i save OD to help me get thru it as you can miss more notes while in overdrive and not fail out. Generally speaking the first time i play a song that is difficult i save OD just in case a really tricky solo trips me up. A good example is green grass and high tides (RB1) knowing when to deploy OD, and then collecting more OD soon after is the only way for average players (like me) to get thru the end of that song.

Drum OD is a biit different in that it can only be activated after fills which happen periodically when you have enough starpower. But otherwise its the same as guitar, activate before lots of notes or save for when you're in the red. The one caveat i can think of is on really tough strenuous songs its worth just keeping hold of OD so you can get a break during the fills which can be reassuringly frequent. As once youve deployed OD on drums you wont get any more fill breaks till you get more power!

[Tufty McTavish]

I save it up for sections with lots of notes, especially chords as they score more. Preferably individual notes rather than long sustained sections though. I also usually wait a little bit after getting some more star power (SP) as you can usually activate it then chain the next star power section into the existing activation for extended usage.

Finally, I usually try and activate it fairly soon after I get a 3/4 full power bar because that next section always seems to have a sustained note which I can whammy for extra SP. If I'm filling the last quarter I have to activate it right then in the hope that I can maximise my gain before I hit the final note of the SP section that gives me all the energy. Otherwise the SP energy bar fills up and the excess is lost.

[reddevil63]

Do all songs have a fixed pattern with the overdrive notes or do they come down random?

Am sure I have played same songs with the overdrive notes coming down different each time.

[Triggaaar]

Originally Posted by Tufty McTavish

Finally, I usually try and activate it fairly soon after I get a 3/4 full power bar because that next section always seems to have a sustained note which I can whammy for extra SP.

The whammying for extra SP is really annoying, since it isn't linked with notes that should be whammied, so you do it for the extra SP, and it sounds stupid.

Originally Posted by reddevil63

Do all songs have a fixed pattern with the overdrive notes or do they come down random?

Am sure I have played same songs with the overdrive notes coming down different each time.

Neither fixed nor totally random. If you use the energy, it then new overdrive notes appear soon after.

[Tufty McTavish]

Originally Posted by Triggaaar

The whammying for extra SP is really annoying, since it isn't linked with notes that should be whammied, so you do it for the extra SP, and it sounds stupid.

Huh? You can whammy any sustained note as the choice suits you. Gaining extra SP by whammying comes at the risk of making an error and having to do more things. Risk/Reward. It doesn't always net you a whole lot extra but when SP is already activated and you are playing a SP phrase it slows/stops the drain from the energy bar. I think it's a great mechanic.

Neither fixed nor totally random. If you use the energy, it then new overdrive notes appear soon after.

I always thought they were in fixed places, and often just far enough apart that they can't be chained, at least from a half-ful energy bar.

[Triggaaar]

Originally Posted by Tufty McTavish

Huh? You can whammy any sustained note as the choice suits you. Gaining extra SP by whammying comes at the risk of making an error and having to do more things. Risk/Reward. It doesn't always net you a whole lot extra but when SP is already activated and you are playing a SP phrase it slows/stops the drain from the energy bar.

I understand the risk/reward, but we're not just playing random notes here, we're playing along to original songs where some long notes are whammied and some are not. My lady was singing while I was on guitar yesterday, and she'd get surprised when a long note suddenly went weird when it doesn't in the original, because I was trying to get extra energy.

I always thought they were in fixed places

I think a tutorial says that if you use your energy it'll give the chance to replenish it, but I haven't tested it, so maybe it just means you'll get the chance soon enough anyway, I don't know.

[Slyboy]

Tuftys right - the star power are in set places. It doesnt change if you use energy. Typically they are set further apart so that if only a half bar is used you cannot chain them, encouraging you to fill the star power bar.

[chewyx]

i tend to use mine when there is a run of notes as you get more points. Try to avoid the sustain notes as you dont get as many points. Also whamying the sustains does absoutely nothing (unless its an overdrive note) unlike GH where you get extra poitns for whamying.

Theres some pages on scorehero that tell you when to use it for maximum points.

Look at the bottom for the overdrive FAQ section it has each instrument and difficulty with the songs listed. I dont think it has all of them mind you i havent looked for a while.

[PlexShaw]

Originally Posted by chewyx

Also whamying the sustains does absoutely nothing (unless its an overdrive note) unlike GH where you get extra poitns for whamying.

I'm pretty sure you don't get extra points for whammying in Guitar Hero (unless this is a new feature in Guitar Hero World Tour?).

[chewyx]

Originally Posted by PlexShaw

I'm pretty sure you don't get extra points for whammying in Guitar Hero (unless this is a new feature in Guitar Hero World Tour?).

i thought you did in GH3 i may be wrong however. ive not played guitar on world tour yet

[Tufty McTavish]

I still look at the speed of the score counter when whammying to see if it makes any difference to the score attained. I've been doing that since GH2! It's a hard habit to break.

[reddevil63]

Originally Posted by Tufty McTavish

I still look at the speed of the score counter when whammying to see if it makes any difference to the score attained. I've been doing that since GH2! It's a hard habit to break.

Thats what I do but never know if its going faster or not.

I thought you got more score whamming substained notes, maybe I have read it wrong and you only score extra if whamming on energy substained notes.

[stubbs99]

I can confirm you do not get extra points from whammying sustains. Also it doesn't matter how fast you are whammying on od sustains - just as long as you are moving the bar a bit - the aim is to whammy for the whole length of the sustain. (Getting all the 'ticks' - to use the jargon). Some of the smaller ones can be tricky.

In general activate during chords. Also the time signature and tempo of the measure does affect how long overdrive lasts for. This is why a certain amount of overdrive will last much longer on certain sections than others.

Also there is the advanced technique of squeezing where you activate od late on the first note (or at the very end of the yellow bar on vocals) so that you fit more notes in under 8x.