Walkthrough Monster Energy Supercross 3 Video Walkthrough (250 East).

[Frag Maniac]

I'm having better than expected success so far on Hard mode after beating both East and West 250 classes on Medium. On my last play throughs I no doubt had some struggles here and there, but Hard has been far more doable so far than it was in Supercross 2 for me, giving up after 4 stadiums. I'm not assuming I'll win each race, as the goal is to win the championship on points. So far I've managed to win the first two races with a more than 10 sec lead though, so it feels more natural now.

This will also serve to focus on the line and speed that works for me going into rhythm sections, which I find are the make it or break it segments of each track. It seems non intuitive at times, but you really need to make sure you don't approach tricky rhythm sections with too much speed, which can cause you to miss downslopes and zap momentum really fast. This game tends to progress from easier tracks to harder ones, some later in the season even having whoop sections that require timing and finesse.

250 East Minneapolis

250 East Arlington

I will keep posting two events at a time until hopefully the goal is met. Since the tracks get harder as you progress, there may be a bit more time in between postings as I go.

 

[Frag Maniac]

OK, I've got two more events as promised. The first is a 3 race "Triple Crown" at Detroit in Ford Field stadium,. The 2nd is at the Mercedes Benz stadium in Atlanta. Triple Crowns have shorter length races, so instead of taking 3 times as long, they take just a little over twice as long.

As expected, it's getting a bit tougher to keep a distance from the AI. This time I only managed to average barely more than a 3 sec lead at the last time checks in Detroit, and just over 1 sec lead at the last time check in Atlanta. This is mostly due to the rhythm sections being harder to nail.

The Detroit track has a very tricky split track rhythm section after a long, fast straight. The straight has a double jump at the end that takes you into another jump just before a 180 turn that takes you into the rhythm section. I eventually found the key was to take the jump at the end of the straight with slower speed to hit the 2nd jump's down slope.

Hitting the down slope of that 2nd jump makes up for the reduced speed, and gives you a more controlled landing on the 3rd jump with less G forces, which in turn allows railing the berm with a bit better speed and precision to hit the triple jump on the left split of the rhythm section. It can get very messy if you can't manage to hit that triple jump. I DID however manage to pull off a fairly synced crisscross a few times to salvage some speed, hitting a jump on the right split, then one on the left. I gauge what I'm going to do by how fast and smooth I manage to take the berm.

Atlanta has rhythm sections which don't get as ugly if you're not precise on them, but the fact that they're not as devastating if you don't hit them precisely means the AI take them with fairly consistent speed, even when they don't hit them well, and they can catch you if you don't stay consistent on them. The first rhythm section comes right after the holeshot. You need to land a shallow double well to hit the two consecutive triples well that come after it. This is a critical make it or potentially break it part of the track.

The 2nd rhythm at Atlanta is the section right after that first one, which involves hitting a double, into a double, to set up for a steep jump into a triple. It helps to use a scrub on the steep jump to make sure you clear the 3rd jump, especially since right after landing it you have a sharp right turn onto the straight, a spot you can use to gap AI that go into the berm there. You can take the first part of this section reasonably fast without precisely landing the double/double, but as you can see, when I did, it had consequences.

The last rhythm comes just after a left turn off the straight, and is by far the easiest to hit consistently. It just requires hitting a shallow triple at moderate speed to land another triple after it. These are both fun tracks, but they can also become frustrating if you don't get the holeshot and keep the lead. For some reason the game often doesn't credit me for holeshots when I've clearly gotten them though.

250 East Detroit Triple Crown

250 East Atlanta

 

[Frag Maniac]

OK, two more events, Daytona, and Indianapolis.

Daytona

Daytona is clearly programmed in favor of Chase Sexton, He far exceeds anything the rest of the AI can do, and can somehow miraculously catch up several seconds in one lap after crashing badly. I also experienced some rather odd graphical bugs where a ghost starting gate would pop up about 15' in front of the real one right after start.

Daytona is mostly fast, but has a few technical sections that can be tricky to flow through. The first is a series of medium jumps just after a sharp right turn following the holeshot and a sand section. Since the Med jumps are spaced out a bit, about the only way to take this smoothly for me was to temper my speed and take short single jumps through it. Since that's all the AI on Hard tend to do, it wasn't a problem.

It's then best to swing a bit wide into the left 180 turn to set up for a scrub off the big double jump. From there I just go full gas with weight back on the whoops to set up for another scrub to land on a flat section. I debated the sense of this for some time, because it's hard to land a scrub jump on a flat without losing a bit of momentum, but when I did the jump side by side with AI that weren't scrubbing, I went ahead of them in the air every time.

Here's where it gets tricky. I then go full gas again and weight back off the first shallow jump to double jump to the downslope of another shallow jump just before a tabletop. This is a crucial double to hit precisely, and weighting back on that first jump helps temper your speed for it a bit. This is the double that makes or breaks your flow through this section.

Ideally you want to hit that double with the right amount of speed to carry you into 3 more near identical doubles. However if you can manage, the table tops can suffice to salvage speed with "on/offs" using weight back, rear wheel taps if you see an error in time to correct for it. This section can really zap speed if you hit it wrong though.

After that it's just a matter of weighting back for another whoop section. Next comes a 180 left into the last rhythm section, again with shallow jumps. For me it was best to moderate speed with a single jump onto the tabletop, and on/off. Then take another moderated speed single jump, keeping speed tempered to hit two back to back doubles after that. Now you CAN, (and I have) hit a triple off the single that follows the tabletop, but it's MUCH harder to do, and when you miss it, the speed loss is not worth the risk. After that it's just a matter of weighting back on shallow jumps, and a scrub to hit a double.

For a track with long straights and mostly shallow jumps, Daytona still requires tons of focus. I none the less managed to pull off a win with a hair under 8.8 sec lead at the last time check.

Indianapolis

Indianapolis gave me fits at first. It's a track that can make you crash in a variety of ways, mainly casing jumps and wiping out on Tuff Blocks. Once I figured out one simple way to tackle it easier though, it became nirvana to ride.

You start off with a series of fast, shallow/Med jumps, doubling onto the Med, which takes you into a 90 degree left, The left is super critical to come off with a well landed single into a double/double, to set up for a little slow hop over one shallow jump into another 90 degree left and VERY tough triple to hit, which also requires landing a single perfectly to get enough distance for.

For the longest time I was trying to hit the first single off that first left turn by taking the turn at it's apex to get enough momentum to hit it with the right distance. The problem with that is it's hard to do, and the leaning of the bike that is required to pull it off can make you go out of control. I found it was FAR easier to just take that left turn from the far right of it at a bit slower speed, which gave me enough distance and an upright posture to land it every time controllably.

This also gave me WAY more control and confidence to hit that next crucial single to set up for the triple well. Only one time did I not hit the triple, but managed to salvage speed with doubles. Now granted, most of the time I did not hit the triple perfectly, tapping it's top and the next two tops as well, but that still gives you FAR more momentum than full on smacking the front side of the jump.

Out of that triple is a fast 180 left that can be coasted through pretty well, and a tough whoop section. I say tough because the last half of it has irregular spaced and sized whoops that can send you flying high if you don't hit them just right. I have crashed many times there, but then got in the habit of letting off the gas when I go high, to avoid crashing.

Next is a tough little 90 degree right single onto an on/off tabletop, where you want to really temper speed to hit a shallow single jump on it's down slope while steering/leaning for a 90 degree right, which you can hit a triple off if done well. This is tough not only to hit precise speed on, but it also helps to swing wide left for the table top, and you can easily crash on the Tuff Blocks if you're not careful.

That 2nd triple I again hit fairly consistently, but usually via tapping tops like the other. A couple times I hit it so wildly the bike wobbled severely sideways and I nearly crashed. At times I missed it due to not nearly enough speed, but managed to on/off the tabletop to salvage momentum.

You then take a 180 right, and in and out of it is fast, flat straights, but this also makes it tricky because the finish line jump right after can be disastrous if you don't temper speed correctly. It goes into a fairly big, but short double jump, followed by a split track 180 left lined with Tuff Blocks. Too little speed and you'll case the jump, too much and the Tuff Blocks will swallow you or slow you like quicksand.

If you manage to hit the downslope on the double, you can lean/steer hard left while coasting to rail the berm, missing the Blocks, but sometimes I had to tap the brakes a bit just before the turn. Then it's "just" a whoop section and a 90 degree left off a shallow jump over a medium jump into another left to hit a big air double jump...

Or IS it "just" that? The fact is that deceptively tricky jump over the Med jump can often make you case. There I found the trick, yet again, is to much like the very first left turn, slow a bit and swing wide right first, then line it up upright vs leaned, in which case I made it over that Med jump every time with plenty control.

The first time I built up a 10+ sec lead with 2 laps to go, (after NUMEROUS restarts mind you), followed by an unfortunate Tuff Block quicksand event out of that 180 left after the finish line double jump, then proceeded to crash casing on that Med left turn jump going into the big air double, I set a goal to win with a more than 10 sec lead.

After that revelation of taking the first left turn and the left into the big air double wider, slower, and more upright, I managed to pull off a win with just under a 12.4 sec lead at the last time check. The icing on the cake, was my fastest lap time was about 1.8 sec faster than any of the AI. So don't take landing triples with top taps as a fail, it's fairly effective. The only slight disappointment was the game, yet again, not crediting me for getting the holeshot, but I'm getting pretty used to that and have plenty of SX Credits anyway. It was not only rewarding, but a big relief to get that one bagged.

250 East Daytona

250 East Indianapolis

 

[Frag Maniac]

After much frustration on the Nashville track, I've finally finished the next two events there and at East Rutherford.

Nashville

It literally took me a week of long, several hour sessions to get Nashville done. I was beginning to think I'd be lucky to place in the top 10, but managed a 4th. Were it not for a disastrous mistake riding into a Tuff Block at the 2:06 mark, which caused me to lose 2 or 3 places, and an unfortunate crash at the end of a whoop section later on, I'd probably have been in contention for the lead.

The trick with Nashville is to get the holeshot to get a good start, where after, ideally you need to hit a double/double/triple in order to finally take a short hop over a single jump into the 1st berm. From there you need to temper your speed off the berm to land a single to set up for two back to back on/offs on two consecutive tabletops, into a double that takes you into the 2nd berm. How you land that double can be critical, as I've at times caught up and passed AI there by landing it at the apex of the tight right turn to pass AI that go high into the berm, or even block pass AI taking a more direct route.

Then it's a fast, long straight into the first crucial rhythm section. I have found if I lean to maintain speed, and coast just a wee bit after braking going into the big, sweeping turn into this section, then gas on full, I can often hit the very crucial triple which lands you on the downslope of a tabletop. If you hit it just right it will take you into two more triples, the last of which lands you perfectly on the downslope of a very small jump taking you into the next berm. This is demonstrated at the 4:40 mark. More often than not I tapped the top of the 2nd triple, which landed me short of the 3rd, but still very salvageable flow. At times the 2nd tabletop CAN be used with an on/off to salvage flow if you land the first triple imprecise, which often only allows speed for a double/double to the tabletop. This is shown at the 5:42 mark.

If you by some chance have to on/off on the 1st tabletop due to contending with AI in the turn going into this section, or just not taking the turn with enough speed, you are considerably more limited in what you can do, as it often means slowing to hit a single well to get good speed on a big jump to double to the 2nd tabletop for an on/off. This is easier said than done, and I would much rather try to make sure I hit that 1st triple. Fortunately the one time I DID have to on/of on the 1st tabletop, I got help from an AI that rode under me, skimming off the top of his helmet. LOL

Now comes the dreaded whoop sections, which are back to back connected by a 180 berm that goes to the finish line. Nashville is the only track in the entire 250 East career that has whoops that are hard for me to get good speed on. They can also make you lose speed by bouncing you up in the air, which can also often result in a crash if you're not careful. I have literally tried the full gamut of suspension settings from softest to firmest, and nothing helps. I have also tried holding down weight back and tapping weight back when hitting each whoop, but still these problems. I rail the berms as best as I can to get speed up for them, but what annoys me is the AI can completely avoid using the berms and somehow get great speed into them taking the apex, which is a considerably slower turn, yet they pass me. So unfortunately I have no advice for these whoop sections except to hope for the best and try not to crash.

Next is a very crucial spot, and also where I crashed into that Tuff Block. It's a big air single jump to a lower area with a 90 degree left into a semi big air double into another 90 degree left. The trick here is to scrub the first jump, land it wide with moderate speed to avoid that Tuff Block, and hit the downslope of the double with moderate speed middle or wide, leaning hard left to really juice some speed off a big air single onto an on/off on a tabletop. This, especially with good but not too much speed, will set you up for a single/single/triple/double, which is demonstrated at the 3:07 mark. This can be nirvana as it will often allow you to catch up to or pass AI. The small berm on that 2nd 90 degree left can also salvage a jump to the tabletop, as is demonstrated at 2:03 even after riding into the Tuff Block! That kinda shocked the hell out of me.

Nashville can be fun if you can manage to link together enough good laps, but even after learning it well enough to contend for a podium position, I only got about 9th on fastest lap time, and was about 1.4 sec slower than the fastest lap by Justin Cooper. The really odd thing is, John Short, whom didn't even show in the top 12 championship points stats, came out of nowhere and won. I finished just under 6.3 sec behind Chase Sexton by the last time check, but it didn't show John Short's lead.

250 East Nashville

East Rutherford

Thankfully East Rutherford is FAR easier. It's not too hard to get the holeshot. Even if you don't get a good enough start to clear the field into the first turn to avoid the dreaded squeeze out, the field always for some reason splits in two. If I don't get a great start, I just ride between this split. It IS however less likely to get messy with riders near you in the first section if you manage to clear the field on the start though.

The first section is just a matter of hitting a single with tempered speed, to set up for a double onto an on/off on a tabletop. This allows you to take a short hop over a small jump into a right turn berm, where you need to set up for a very tempered speed, short single onto another on/off on a tabletop, which in turn sets you up for a triple/triple/double into a 90 degree right. I didn't nail it the 1st lap, but it's demonstrated on the 2nd lap at the 1:05 mark.

From there it's moderate speed spaced single/single/single jumps, into a 180 berm and up over a moderate speed big air single. Hitting the down slope of this single well and leaning hard left into the two 90 degree lefts on the flat thereafter, while just tapping brakes or coasting where needed, helps you gain time on the AI, whom take this section slowly. It then takes you into a semi fast flat across two small jumps on either side of the straight and into a 90 degree right, where you can again lean hard and gain time on AI.

This takes you into a big air double, and a fast small jump double off a short straight, into a 180 right berm, and onto a long easy whoop section, followed by a hard left onto the straight, and a sharp right onto a short, easy whoop section. I finished with a just under 2.2 sec lead at the last time check, which comes right before the finish.

THANK GOD for tracks with fast, easy whoop sections! I think that's something even the great Ken Roczen can appreciate, especially after doing so well on them most of the race this Sat at Atlanta, only to crash on them and lose his near 12 sec lead, and get passed by points leader Cooper Web. The difference between being 16 points down compared to only 10 points, when you have only TWO rounds left, can be huge against a great rider like Web.

250 East East Rutherford And no, I didn't stutter, it's actually IN East Rutherford.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Well, another day, another championship, this time on Hard mode!

I didn't know what to expect this time at Las Vegas, since even last time on Medium, it took more tries than I thought it would to win. I could have easily settled for a much lesser result, as I already had enough points to win the championship even had I not gotten ANY points. I wanted to get at least on the podium though, and much preferred a win. After a few tries when I got to less than a 1/4 lap to go duking it out neck and neck with Justin Cooper, but ran into some Tuff Blocks, I knew I had a win in me.

Las Vegas is another track that's fairly easy to holeshot, this time the game even gave me credit for it! It's often easier to not jump the gate first, as rarely can I time it perfect enough to completely clear the field. Instead I usually go behind the field and tuck into the small space that always opens between the pack and the left side blocks. This is also a more natural angle to enter the first turn from. This time however I managed to time the start well enough to just clear the field.

I always try to take the first right turn off the shallow berm as a single to sustain momentum for another single to on/off on the tabeltop, then another single. After the next 90 degree right, I used to always just skip off the first jump, then single to the next. This time I felt more pressure from the pack right behind me so I leaned hard into that right turn and was able to clear the first jump enough to use IT'S downslope instead to propel me.

The first lap I almost crashed in that rhythm section though, as instead of hitting the downslope of the 1st jump, I smacked into the face of the 2nd. When you do this while still leaned from a sharp turn as I was, it results in the wobbly seesaw at the :20 mark. Fortunately I was able to not only keep from crashing, but hit a good double over the tabletop, which allowed me to stay with the pack adequately.

This rhythm section is better demonstrated at the 1:25 mark, where I literally single all the way through the fairly spaced out jumps. Then comes "Monster Alley", my favorite part of Las Vegas. This is because if you lean forward on the straights, and right on the big right bend, you can gain time on or catch up and pass AI. All the better if you come out of it without contact from AI to build up max speed for what comes right after.

With great speed off Monster Alley you can hit a massive quad jump. In fact at the near 70 MPH an uncontended exit from the alley allows, it's pretty easy to every time. At that speed it also easily takes you into a triple right after. Then all you have to do to get to the finish line is make sure you slow down enough to rail the shallow right turn berm. What makes it tricky is that turn is split into two halves. I used to take the outside half, but I've gotten good at slowing down to a speed where I can coast through the inside half, which is faster than the outside, and often allows me to pass AI.

One caveat of taking the inside line on that turn is I pretty much never get enough speed to take the finish line bridge jump so that I land on it's downslope and get a speed boost into the whoops thereafter. I have found that's not really a problem as long as I have adequate speed, or the lead. From there I rail the 180 right turn berm high to sling off it with enough speed to take the 2nd half of the whoop section. The whoops can send you in the air a bit, and you need to make sure when you lean right to duck under the 90 degree right turn under the finish line bridge, you are far enough left to not smack a shoulder into the bridge underpass. This can easily happen if you happen to come off the whoops with some unexpected air.

Now comes a seemingly easy, but tricky flat that takes you to a 90 degree left, into a big air triple, with a 90 degree left right after, then immediately over a medium jump, back to the holeshot. It actually IS fairly easy if you have the lead, but when you're battling AI, there's a temptation to take the apex of that left turn into the big air triple to pas them, which often doesn't end well. It's far safer I'm finding to use the shallow berm at the far right of that turn, which also gives you a longer run up for the big air triple. That's a jump that in frustration I often scrubbed to get enough distance for, but the berm gives me enough speed to not have to, also allowing me to land it with more stability. This is key because on the landing you really need to immediately lean left to take the next turn.

At the 2:33 mark, you can see the alternative way of taking the rhythm section by skipping off the first jump. It still involves singling all the way through, the main difference being you on/off the tabletop vs jumping over it. Either way seems about equally fast, but this method is probably less risky due to the fast leaned jump that is required to enter it the other way.

I finished the race with an only 1.2 sec lead at the last time check. It likely would have been more than that had I not nearly crashed at the :20 mark, smacked into the Tuff Blocks at the 3:17 mark after attempting to block pass Martin Davalos, and hit the apex post after the big air triple at the 5:47 mark.

Next up is the 250 West Career, which I plan to make a different thread. It will likely be more challenging, and I don't count on winning as many races. I will however try my best to win the championship on points though.

Sorry for those whom like multiview replays that I screwed up and hit F3+Enter, instead of F3+H, which made the game skip passed it.

250 East Las Vegas