Guide
Downhill Domination Tricks and Superstyle Guide
The Downhill Domination trick system explained: the full trick book from Superman to Indian Air, Superstyle with Triangle, the Stoke Meter, manuals, stoppies and scoring.
Contents On this page
There are more than 30 tricks in Downhill Domination, and they are not decoration. Tricks earn cash, charge your meters and decide Freestyle events outright. This guide covers the trick book, the Superstyle system that upgrades every move, and how to build runs that score without ending in a bush.
Why tricks matter beyond style
In most racing games tricks are a side show. Here they are currency. Landed tricks pay cash, feed the Stoke Meter and contribute to the points that unlock rewards such as the Super Jump. A rider who tricks off every safe jump in a Freeride race finishes richer and faster than one who keeps the wheels down, because the boost economy runs on style. The game is constantly asking one question: how much of this descent can you ride in the air, on one wheel, or both?
The basic trick book
The foundation moves are simple inputs. One Hand is L1. The Superman, the game's signature trick, is R1 plus L1, throwing the rider's body off the back of the bike in mid air. Can Can, No Hander and their relatives fill out the early book, and the inputs are listed in the game's own trick screens so you can rehearse them in Freestyle. Learn three tricks perfectly before you learn ten tricks badly: a clean Superman landed ten times beats a highlight reel with four crashes in it. For the complete picture of the game, start from the Downhill Domination hub home page and work outwards from there.
The advanced airs
Deeper in the book sit the moves that separate scorers from riders: Indian Air on R1 plus R2 plus L2, heel and toe variations, and the big extension tricks that need real air time to complete safely. Advanced tricks are course knowledge in disguise. You can only throw them off jumps with enough hang time, which means learning which jumps on each course are trick jumps and which are speed jumps is the actual skill being tested.
Superstyle: the Triangle upgrade
Press Triangle while performing a trick and you Superstyle it, adding flair and points to the move in progress. Superstyle is the scoring multiplier that Freestyle careers are built on, and it is also a risk dial: styled tricks take longer to complete and are easier to fumble on landing. The veterans' rule is to style the tricks you could land asleep and keep the sketchy ones plain. One styled Superman off a big jump is worth more than a panicked style attempt that ends in a bail.
Manuals, stoppies and ground tricks
Not all style is airborne. Manuals on the rear wheel and stoppies on the front wheel score on flat ground, and they are the secret income of the whole economy: the famous money making technique of the game is built on holding stoppies and manuals on a quiet slope, racking up points in safety. In races, a manual across a flat section keeps your meter alive between jumps, turning dead trail into scoring trail. Tricks and fighting share one economy, covered from the other side in our combat system guide.
The Stoke Meter in practice
Your tricking stat decides how generously the meter rewards you, which is why Mai and T-bag feel like cash machines in Freeride while pure racers have to work harder for the same boost. Spend the meter deliberately. A boost burned on a flat you could pedal is wasted; a boost launched out of a slow corner or saved for a final straight is strategy. Watch the meter the way real downhillers watch their heart rate: as information, not decoration.
Building a Freestyle run
Freestyle scoring is run construction. Open with safe high value tricks off the biggest jumps, link ground tricks between them so the meter never empties, and save one styled signature move for the last big air where a crash costs least pride and the scoreboard is watching. Variety scores: the game rewards a run that shows the book, not a run that repeats its best trick eleven times. Rotate, link, land clean, and only then chase the exotic inputs. Freestyle is also a career of its own, and our Arcade and Freestyle guide shows how scoring events are structured.
Crashes, bails and recovery
Every trick player crashes, and the recovery is a skill too. Bail early rather than landing sideways, get pedalling the instant you remount because sprint decides how much of the run survives, and resist the revenge trick, the huge attempt riders throw immediately after a crash to win the points back. It almost never lands. The scoreboard rewards the calm run: medium tricks, all landed, meter always alive. Style, in this game, is a discipline.
Quick Answers
How do you do a Superman in Downhill Domination?
Press R1 plus L1 in the air to perform the Superman, the game's signature trick.
What is Superstyle in Downhill Domination?
Pressing Triangle during a trick Superstyles it, adding flair and extra points at the cost of a longer, riskier move.
How many tricks are in Downhill Domination?
The game features more than 30 tricks, from One Hand and Superman to Indian Air, plus manuals and stoppies on the ground.