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Weapon: Shield Gun
Primary Fire
Charged-up melee attack that has a ridiculous range.
Secondary Fire
Semi-effective shield that blocks incoming fire and nulls out some falling damage. Recharges over time.
While the primary fire is more of a last resort, the secondary fire has many uses, ranging from escaping to jumping into a battle to attempt to steal away an important powerup.
Tweaked from UT2K3 (and weakened), the shield gun has it's uses, but will typically be relegated to a supporting role in 1v1, as in most team oriented games, your time is better spent fighting than running.
Primary Damage: 40 Damage, up to 150 if charged.
Secondary Damage: n/a
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Weapon: Assault Rifle
Primary Fire
Standard rapid-fire machinegun, reminiscent of Quake 3's spawning weapon. It is, however, less precise and a bit weaker because of it.
Secondary Fire
Launches a charged-up grenade with nearly unpredictable ricochets and rebounds.
The spawning weapon, quickly dwarfed by every other weapon. Not very useful, accurate or powerful, the assault rifle will stick to its holster unless absolutely required, as a last resort.
However, if another Assault Rifle is picked up, the akimbo style double-weapon winds up being very powerful, slightly less than the minigun.
Primary Damage: 7 per bullet.
Secondary Damage: 68-69 per grenade.
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Weapon: Bio Rifle
Primary Fire
Single glob of goo fired in a downward arc.
Secondary Fire
Charged up glob of goo fired in a downward arc.
At times the most hated weapon in the Unreal Universe, the Bio Rifle has gone through many adaptations over the years. A rather large balance problem in UT2K3, it seems to have been fixed in UT2K4. Few kills are as rewarding as a loaded up goo shot to the face, and fewer still are more frustrating when you're on the recieving.
Mainly used as a spam-tactic, the Bio Rifle's use is limited to very specific situations. Most often, it'll be replaced by another weapon as soon as one is picked up.
Primary Damage: 35 per (direct) hit.
Secondary Damage: Up to ~200 per (direct) hit.
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Weapon: Link Gun
Primary Fire
Plasma cells that deal high damage with a medium rate of fire.
Secondary Fire
A semi-straight, more or less ondulating stream of plasma, akin to Quake 3's Lightning Gun. Also allows "linking up" to teammates, doubling their damage.
Onslaught's trademark weapon isn't exactly as useful as it might appear in straight Deathmatch situations. The primary fire is ridiculously inneffective at long ranges, though it does deal 22 damage per cell. The secondary fire, although it does feature a weird sort of 'lockdown', is trumped by the minigun, which is easier to aim, therefore killing enemies faster. It's range is also limited.
Primary Damage: 30 per cell.
Secondary Damage: ~9 per cell.
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Weapon: Mine Layer
Primary Fire
Fires a spider mine that sets onto the ground and springs up to attack nearby enemies.
Secondary Fire
Fires a homing laser that guides previously fired spider mines to it's tip.
The Mine Layer really isn't an offensive weapon. While it does have it's uses in such a situation, what with the homing secondary fire, there are weapons better suited for such a task.
What the Mine Layer does do well, however, is defense. Say you're attacking the enemy's Power Core and they're trying desperately to take back their Main Node. Why not blanket that area with Spider Mines? Very annoying, but very effective.
In the long run, the Mine Layer falls on the bench and stays there for the majority of games. It's more of a spam tactic than anything.
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Weapon: Shock Rifle
Primary Fire
Railgun-like projectile that deals 45 damage with a rapid rate of fire.
Secondary Fire
Launches a shock core that deals splash damage.
Ah, the mark of the Unreal Universe. The shock rifle is the hardest weapon to master, but also the most rewarding. While it statistically isn't that impressive, these dont' take into the massive amounts of damage generated by shock combos.
Mastering shock combos is a great asset to anyone's skill set and can make the difference between two otherwise equal players. By far, the most versatile weapon in the game.
Primary Damage: 45 per hit.
Secondary Damage: Ranges from 5 to 45 damage, depending on proximity.
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Weapon: Flak Cannon
Primary Fire
9 fast-moving projectiles that spread in a shotgun-like pattern.
Secondary Fire
Grenade-type projectile that follows a downward arc and explodes on contact, releasing shards and dealing splash damage.
A spammer's dream come true, the Flak Cannon is the perfect weapon for close to medium range fighting. It even manages to perform better than the illustrious Rocket Launcher.
Capable of dealing high amounts of damage very rapidly and working as a sort of crowd-control in the hands of talented players, the Flak Cannon is a valuable tool.
Primary Damage: 117 (full hit).
Secondary Damage: 76-164 (highly random).
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Weapon: Grenade Launcher
Primary Fire
Fires sticky grenades that attach themselves to players, surfaces and vehicles.
Secondary Fire
Sets the fired grenades off.
While you certainly won't be using this weapon very often in infantry vs infantry combat, it proves quite funny if you do. Many grenade duels were fought with friends, and much fun was had.
Where this weapon truly shines is agaisnt nodes and vehicles. Simply spam the sticky grenades until you can't fire anymore, and press secondary fire. Boom. Repeat. Even if the enemy team manages to kill you, your grenades will automatically explode. It's a sweet deal.
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Weapon: Minigun
Primary Fire
Fast-firing instant-hit bullets that deal moderate amounts of damage that quickly add up.
Secondary Fire
Slower-firing instant-hit bullets that deal higher amounts of damage, yet fire slower and seem weaker.
To many gamers, the minigun feels overpowered. It deals lots of damage, very fast, and if you're wielding the Double Damage powerup, you can completely annihilate anyone in a very short amount of time.
The minigun is still limited and greatly depends on a person's ability to keep their crosshair centered on an enemy and predict their movement. Be warned, however, that even if this weapon is quite powerful, there are ways around it and you are in no way invulnerable.
Of note, however, is that the secondary fire is more useful than primary fire when firing at long ranges. Perhaps the only situation where this is the case.
Primary Damage: 7-8 per bullet.
Secondary Damage: ~14 per bullet.
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Weapon: Rocket Launcher
Primary Fire
Single rocket that flies straight and explodes on impact, providing splash damage.
Secondary Fire
Loads up to three rockets and fires them either in a straight horizontal line or in a tight spiral (press primary fire while the rockets are loading).
Oddly enough, UT2K4's rocket launcher isn't the strongest weapon in the game, something many Quakers will discover rapidly. It certainly offers many benefits, however it quickly becomes apparent that the rocket launcher is best used for sneak attacks, where loading three rockets and firing them on an unsuspecting foe nets you an easy frag.
However, in straight fights, most players will prefer the flak cannon or the shock rifle. Powerful in experienced hands, the rocket launcher still winds up low on the priority list.
Primary Damage: 80-88 (direct hit).
Secondary Damage: N/A.
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Weapon: AVRiL
Primary Fire
Fires a single, very powerful rocket that can home onto enemy vehicles if the crosshair is maintained on them.
Secondary Fire
Does the "crosshair" part for you.
I despise the AVRiL. It's meant to ease the newer folk into the game, by offering them an "easy" way to take down enemy vehicles, and this I have no problems with. My frustration lies with the secondary fire mode, which removes any skill involved in firing this. It also results in some catastrophically hilarious movement for the actual rocket.
On the front-end of almost any assault and any defense for a staggering amount of teams, the AVRiL is highly overused and highly spammed. This humble writer would rather it never made it into existence, but alas, it was.
On the flipside, if you become proficient at dodging these rockets, which is theoretically possible, although quite difficult, much hilarity will ensue as the opponents gaze and marvel at your stupendous performance. Lots of adjectives and such.
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Weapon: Lightning Gun
Primary Fire
Slow-firing instant-hit lighting beam that strikes enemies for 70 damage, with the possibility of an headshot, doubling the damage.
Secondary Fire
Zoom.
The favored weapon for sniping and long-range fights, a skilled user of this weapon will make your play session much harder than it typically is.
Very powerful and arguably easy to use, some players however find (rightfully so, from a statistical point of view) that the shock rifle is the better choice for long range fighting.
Ultimately, the choice is yours.
Primary Damage: 70 per hit.
Secondary Damage: N/A.
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Weapon: Sniper Rifle
Primary Fire
Single slow-firing instant-hit bullet. 60 Damage, Doubled if a Headshot is hit.
Secondary Fire
Zoom.
A fan favorite in the Unreal universe, the Sniper Rifle was absent for UT2K3, replaced by the - much superior - lightning gun. Tweaked to ease complaints from various camps, the most recent itiration of the Sniper Rifle is dwarfed by the Lightning Gun.
For one, it's damage is reduced by 10. There's also the blinding puff of smoke that appears after every shot, which is annoying as all hell. I mean, this isn't Counter-Strike. Then, there's the fact that it takes longer to switch from the Sniper Rifle to another weapon than any other weapon. And finally, the bullet leaves no trail, encouraging cowardly, slow-paced, hide-and-go-seek play in a fast-paced fps.
While the intention certainly was good, this Sniper Rifle should've stayed back where it was originally left. It's only good point, when compared to the Lightning Gun, is the zoom, which looks infinitely better.
Primary Damage: 60 per hit.
Secondary Damage: N/A.
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Weapon: Target Painter
Primary Fire
Fires a targetting laser, directing the airstrike.
Secondary Fire
None.
While certainly not the most useful weapon in the history of superweapons, the Target Painter is a nifty idea. Sadly, it was poorly executed.
Basically, it calls an Airstrike down to the designated area. Sounds good, but the Airstrike is actually quite weak and rarely does enough damage to warrant the risk involved. Then, you've gotta consider the fact that the Ship that fires the airstrike can be shot down rather easily, and well, you've got a very bland weapon.
Benched!
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Weapon: Ion Painter
Primary Fire
Fires a targetting beam, designating the target area for the ion explosion.
Secondary Fire
None.
Ah, now we're getting somewhere. In my not so humble opinion, this is the best superweapon. It requires an acceptable balance of skill, risk and damage output to not turn it into something ridiculous, like the Redeemer.
It's a shame this weapon isn't used more, it would certainly make for some interesting Onslaught games.
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Weapon: Redeemer
Primary Fire
Fires a mini-nuclear missile in a straight line that explodes on impact. Can be shot down.
Secondary Fire
Fires the same missile, but the player controls it.
The most powerful weapon in the game, it results in some cataclysmic massacres of various nodes and players, every time it's used. I'm strongly opposed to using the Redeemer in any gametype, other than Invasion. It simply makes the game void and empty.
Then again, it is immensely gratifying to shoot down a Node in Onslaught and get an instant MEGA KILL, but still, I've never believed in this weapon's value. Too user-friendly.
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