New Player Guide: What Do the Various Weapons Do? (rev 2)
PISTOLS
Pistols are DEX-based weapons that sacrifice range for light weight, high rate of fire, and higher stopping power. They require little or no Weapon Lore to aim, but some Weapon Lore to max range and rate of fire. They do have to be aimed at the target for a certain amount of time to get maximum accuracy.
- 9mm Pistols: Single shot weapons. Can be modified to cause damage-over-time. Rare: Wyatt Earp.
. - Nailguns: Single shot weapons that cause knock-back. Can be modified to cause damage-over-time.
. - Sub Machine Guns and Automatic Pistols: High recoil short-range weapons that fire four-round bursts. Rare: Liberator.
. - Minirocket Launchers: Single shot explosive rounds. Not very accurate, not very powerful, but the only area-effect damage pistols available.
. - Gatlin Pistols: Continuous-fire machine-gun pistols, very long range for a pistol, moderate recoil.
. - Laser Pistols: Single shot weapons, lighter damage but the longest range for a pistol. Epic: Tangent. Rare: Beam of Hell.
. - Pulselaser Pistols: Burst-fire laser pistol, good range, medium damage, no recoil. Rare: Slasher.
. - Freezer Pistols: Causes tiny amounts of energy damage and a minor "stun" effect that makes player characters (only!) run more slowly and aim more slowly.
. - Plasma Pistols: Very high rate of fire short range energy weapon, basically an energy submachine gun. Rare: Judge.
. - Fusion Pistols: Double-barreled weapon that causes very little damage at point blank range but double damage at maximum range. Rare: Executioner.
. - Raygun Pistols: Single shot weapon that causes double damage at point blank range but very little damage at maximum range. Rare: Ray of Last Hope.
. - Ion Crossbow: Very high rate of fire, very high damage, only obtainable via a high-level mission.
RIFLES
Rifles are DEX-based weapons. All rifles sacrifice some damage and rate of fire for very long range, the longest in the game. They require high levels of Weapon Lore to aim well. They do have to be aimed at the target for a certain amount of time to get maximum accuracy. You run perceptibly slower with a rifle in your hands than you do without. There are no area-effect rifles, period.
- 7.62mm Rifles: Single-shot weapons with good range. Can be modified to cause damage-over-time.
. - Assault Rifles: Fires three-round bursts, heavy recoil, good range. Epic: Tsunami. Rare: Pain Easer.
. - Shotguns: Double-barreled weapon, mediocre range, good damage, can be modified to cause damage-over-time. Rare: Terminator.
. - Gatlin Rifles: Very high rate of fire long-range rifles, moderate recoil.
. - Laser Rifles: Super-long range energy weapon, mediocre damage. Epic: Tangent. Rare: Healing Light.
. - Pulselaser Rifles: Compromise between the assault rifle and the laser rifle. Rare: Disrupter.
. - Sniper Rifles: Super-long range, huge damage, very low rate of fire weapons with their own built-in scope (with its own weird user interface). Can be modified to cause damage-over-time. Rare: Silent Hunter.
. - Freezer Rifles: Causes tiny amounts of energy damage and a minor "stun" effect that makes player characters (only!) run more slowly and aim more slowly. Rare: Thunderstorm.
. - Plasma Rifles: Very high rate of fire and good damage for a rifle, but not very good range or accuracy. Rare: First Love.
. - Fusion Rifles: Very long range, causes double damage at maximum range but very little damage at point-blank range. Rare: Redeemer.
. - Raygun Rifles: Short-range energy rifle that causes double damage at point-blank range but very little damage at maximum range. Rare: Ray of God.
HEAVY WEAPONS
Heavy weapons are STR-based weapons that cause about as much damage as pistols, at better range, with slightly lower rate of fire. They require moderate amounts of Weapon Lore to reach full accuracy. You run a lot slower with a heavy weapon in your hands than you do without one.
- Grenade Launchers: Low-level ballistic weapons, area effect damage, hard to aim, can be modified to cause damage-over-time.
. - Hand Grenades: Single-shot single-use explosive weapons, mediocre range, hard to aim, very wide area effect. Epic: Twilight Guardian.
. - Flamers: Very short range flamethrower, high rate of fire, causes double damage at point blank range but very little at maximum range (which isn't very far), can be modified to cause poison damage or damage-over-time. Former rare: Devourer (now Black Dragon database item).
. - Gatlin Cannons: Very-high rate of fire medium-range machine gun, moderate recoil. Epic: CityMercs.
. - Laser Cannons: Very-long range energy weapon, fairly weak damage. Epic: Tangent. Looted: S.T.O.R.M. Laser.
. - Freezer Cannons: Causes tiny amounts of energy damage and a minor "stun" effect that makes player characters (only!) run more slowly and aim more slowly.
. - Plasma Waves: Like a laser cannon, but better damage.
. - Plasma Cannons: Medium range, very high rate of fire, very high damage energy weapon.
. - Rocket Launchers: Mediocre range and rate of fire, large blast area, especially good against vehicles. Even better against vehicles if you use the specially-tuned anti-vehicle and anti-air rocket launchers. Looted: Judgement Day Launcher. Rare: Moonstriker.
. - Fusion Cannons: Medium range explosive energy weapon, famous for the bright blinding flash of light on impact, wide area effect. Rare: Malediction.
. - Raygun Cannons: Medium range explosive energy weapon. Do you see a pattern emerging here? Other than the ammo used and therefore the exact mix of damage types, and the special effect when you fire them, there is no meaningful difference between the rocket launcher, the fusion cannon, and the raygun cannon. Rare: Doom Beamer.
MELEE WEAPONS
Melee weapons are STR-based point-blank-range-only hand weapons. They do not affect your running speed, and do not require aiming time.
- Low-Tech Melee Weapons (various): Direct damage weapons that differ slightly from each other in damage type and character animation, but are basically all similar. Rare: Paw of Tiger (claw), Peacemaker (bat), Vein Ripper (knife), Blade of Ceres (sword), The Dentist (knuckles), and Paw of Bear (claw).
. - Electroshockers: Point-blank-range only "tazer" weapons that cause tiny amounts of energy damage and a minor "stun" effect that makes player characters (only!) run more slowly and aim more slowly. Rare: Electric Tempest, Thunderbolt.
. - Laserblades: High damage point-blank-range energy weapons. Looted: Energy Soulblade. Rare: Devils Grace.
DRONES
Drones are DEX-based remote-piloted vehicles. When you first "fire" one, your point of view changes to the drone's, rendering you unable to move or to see or hear what's happening to your body when it's out of sight. Drones do not require aiming time; if your cursor is over the target from when you click until the shot is fired, you are at full accuracy. Note that rare drones can be blueprinted and lower quality versions cheaply made from those blueprints.
- Lightweight Drones: Fragile, low speed, short flight range drones that are basically equivalent in attack to a 7.62mm rifle.
. - Scout Drones: Have no ability to cause damage, but fly high and fast, have OK hit points, and when you pull the trigger they toggle back and forth between regular vision and 2x zoom.
. - Kamikaze Drones: One-shot weapon that explodes (permanently) when fired, very tiny area effect, very good damage. Rare: Revenge.
. - Fast, Light Drones: There are drone versions of the assault rifle, gatlin rifle, laser rifle, and plasma rifle. All of them fly high, and fast, but cause very little damage per shot, have limited ammunition, and very few hit points. Because of their small size and fast flight speed, these drones are hard for both players and NPCs to hit. Rare: Particle Nemesis (particlebeam), Raptor (gatlin). Former rare: Mosquito (anti-heal), now Tangent database item.
. - Heavy, Slow Drones: There are drone versions of the rocket launcher, fusion rifle or cannon, and raygun cannon, plus one special drone that looks like a rocket launcher when it fires but has even longer range, better accuracy, high damage, but no area effect. None of these drones will fly any higher than about 10 feet off the ground, they have a very short flight range, and they move very slowly, but they have lots of hit points. Former rare: Punisher (raygun cannon), now Tsunami database item.
. - Ion Drones: A compromise between the two: very good flight range, mediocre weapon range, very good damage per shot. These are also the only drones that aren't super-vulnerable to fire damage. No rare version.
AGGRESSIVE PSI WEAPONS
Most APU spells are PSI-based weapons that cause either energy, or force, or fire, or poison damage. They have fairly short range, about equivalent to a pistol or maybe a little worse. To get maximum range and rate of fire you need lots of Psi Use skill. Psi weapons do not require aiming time; if your cursor is over the target from when you click until the shot is fired, you are at full accuracy. However, this makes it harder to judge their maximum range until you figure it out on your own.
- Bolts, Beams, Lances, Haloes: Single-shot medium-range weapons, they differ from each other only in special effects. Loot: Flame Queen Avalanche. Rare: Holy Lightning, Fire Apocalypse.
. - Multi-Bolts: These attacks shoot beams out from the point of impact, causing lesser damage to nearby targets.
. - Balls: Longer range, but require a high ceiling (or being outdoors) to get maximum range. Ball Blasts cause area-effect damage in a small area around the detonation point.
. - Barrels: Wide-area effect that lasts for some time. If the APU isn't careful, that includes the operator. Rare: Holy Thunderstorm, Holy Firestorm.
. - Debuffs: These are the exception; they cause no damage of their own but remove the skill buffs, shields, and/or deflectors that have been put on the target by a PPU monk. Rare (only): Crahn Antibuff.
PASSIVE PSI WEAPONS
Like APU weapons, most passive psi spells are PSI-based "weapons" that have fairly short range, about equivalent to a pistol or maybe a little worse. To get maximum range and rate of fire you need lots of Psi Use skill. Psi weapons do not require aiming time; if your cursor is over the target from when you click until the shot is fired, you are at full accuracy. However, this makes it harder to judge their maximum range until you figure it out on your own. PPU monks who still have their LE chip installed can cast beneficial PPU spells on other characters, but only those with their own LE chip still installed.
- Parashock: Does a small amount of energy damage. Causes player character targets (only!) to run, turn, and aim much more slowly; the higher level the spell, the more pronounced the effect. See APU spells, above, for an explanation of beam, bolt, ball, halo, and barrel effects. Rare: Holy Paralysis.
. - Heal: Restores hit points to the player character (only!) target over time. Group heals cast a heal-over-time on everybody nearby; they keep it even if they move away. Sanctum heals cast on yourself, but each time they heal you they also heal any player character (only!) who is standing near you.
. - Skill Boosts and Resist Boosts: Increase the player character (only!) target's stats temporarily.
. - Deflectors and Shelters: Deflectors reduce incoming force and piercing attacks; shelters reduce incoming energy and fire attacks. See Heal, above, for explanation of group and sanctum.
. - Creature Focus: Summons a short-lived flying creature called a Soul Cluster that will attack nearby enemies. Requires huge amounts of time and mana to cast, the damage they cause is intentionally not very good and their rate of fire is intentionally poor. If you cast the spell once, it attacks random hostile targets, both monsters and non-LE characters. If you cast the spell a second time, while it is already in existence, with a target selected, it will concentrate all of its attacks on that target; the range of this "attack" is actually quite good. Summoned soul clusters are incredibly inaccurate against any target smaller than a person. This is the closest thing that PPU monks have to a solo weapon.
. - Damage Boost: Each cast of this spell (up to 3 times) increases the amount of damage that incoming attacks cause to the target. Damage Blocker removes damage boost, and Damage Boost Sanctum casts a spell on yourself that prevents damage boost effects on anyone or anything near you.
. - Antidote and Anti-Paralyze: Removes poison damage-over-time and parashock effects. Rare: Crahn Catharsis, Crahn Holy Catharsis.
. - Resurrection: Brings players back from the dead with no implant removal, armor still on, and no synaptic impairment, but with a loss of all buffs and with about half hitpoints. Non-LE characters will still drop equipment belts under the usual circumstances for such things.
. - Anti-Stealth: Any person using a stealth tool who passes into the area around the monk for more than a second or two will lose their stealth. Rare (only): Crahn Holy True Sight Sanctum.
HACKNET SOFTWARE
HackNet Software modules are INT-based weapons that act like psi weapons, but only inside HackNet. Software does not require aiming time; if your cursor is over the target from when you click until the shot is fired, you are at full accuracy. However, this makes it harder to judge their maximum range until you figure it out on your own.
- Attack Software: Causes damage to the target. Rare versions not yet implemented.
. - Regeneration Software: Heals the player character (only!) target. Rare versions not yet implemented.
. - Defense Software: Reduces incoming damage. Rare versions not yet implemented.
According to a widely reported rumor, the multilink versions were intended to be the area-effect attack, heal, and shelter software. According to the stats on them when you look at them, they're higher rate of fire, lower damage versions. In practice, when you use them, they're absolutely identical to the regular Hacknet software, with effect proportional to the tech level. (At least, that's what's happening as of patch 132.)
