There are two types of Descent players; those who know what UES is and those that don't.
UES, or Ultra Earth-Shaker, was basically a legend in the days of D2... the most well-known Shaker level out there. (Gigadeath, or at least its 2 and 4 incarnations, was also popular, but not so much.)
The fact that it was a fairly amateur effort by a fairly amateur designer didn't stop anyone.

UES became probably the second most famous D2 level after Minerva 2...
I really didn't think much of smart mines myself. :] Sure, they require good tactical thinking to set properly, but your piloting skills can be utter crap and you can still use them. At least prox bombs had a -little- class... because nobody used them... :]
But I guess that was it with Descent 2 - they added a handful of weapons that actually required skill to use... like the super lasers, Gauss cannon, Phoenix cannon, Flash missiles and Mercury missiles... then there were the downright cheap yet occasionally wildly amusing ones like the Helix cannon, Omega cannon, Guided Missile, Smart Mine and Earthshaker Missile...
Yay, nostalgia baby. :]