Weapons

Xonotic has a wide variety of weapons covering many different tactical situations. Almost every weapon has both a primary and a secondary fire which are usually related to each other.

Generally, a player starts with two weapons: a blaster (laser) and a shotgun. Some maps or scenarios may start the player off with different weapons. Weapons are gained by collecting them either from killed enemies or at designated locations throughout the map, and are lost upon death.

Weapons in the current version of Xonotic take one of four kinds of ammunition. The possibilities are:
 * Shells
 * Bullets
 * Cells
 * Rockets

The exceptions are the blaster (laser) and the tuba, which do not take any ammunition. Some weapons and pickups also consume fuel, which is displayed as a bar near the health and armor display. Picking up a weapon will also give the player some of its associated ammunition as if the player had picked up a corresponding ammunition pickup.

Starter Weapons
These are the weapons with which a player starts. They don't generally appear on maps for this reason, which can be a hinderance when the mutator "No Starting Weapons" is activated. They are also a part of the Core Weapons group (see below).

Blaster (Laser)
The laser shot itself does not do that much damage, but it has a considerable knockback and its burst has a small area of effect. As such, it can be quite useful for pushing players off the map or into dangerous areas.
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 * Ammo: Infinite
 * Primary: Laser shot
 * Damage: 25
 * Speed: 6000 qu/s
 * Secondary: Switch to last used weapon before the laser.

Contrary to the name, the blaster is not a hitscan weapon. Blaster's "bolt" does take some time to reach distant targets and it can be bounced off of launchpads.

The blaster is an extremely useful jumping tool, as it can be used for effective boosted jumps, wall jumps, acceleration. Most players have a keybind that makes it easy to switch to for this reason.

Shotgun
It's best suited as a close-range weapon owing to the fact that each individual shot as very low damage. The shotgun is, however, a good finishing weapon. At mid range, however, the weapon is very difficult to use effectively as the shots have a considerable spread.
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 * Core Weapon: Yes
 * Ammo: Shells
 * Primary: Scatter shot
 * Damage: 12 pellets, 4 damage per pellet
 * Secondary: Melee
 * Damage: 70 at the center of the splash
 * Range: 120 qu
 * Primary ammo cost: 1
 * Secondary ammo cost: 0

Its secondary melee attack is not to be underestimated, as it can do very heavy damage. Although not immediately obvious, it has a small splash range so it can be used to hit two opponents in the same swing. However, the melee attack has a significant delay as the player raises the shotgun, giving the target time to dodge it.

Core Weapons
These are the staple weapons of Xonotic and are the only ones found on official maps. All the core weapons are given when the mutator "Most Weapons" is activated.

Machine Gun
This weapon's primary shot is a rapid fire but relatively inaccurate spray of bullets. This spray is therefore best used at close range, provided that the player can keep the crosshairs fixed on a target. It can be very good for quickly killing an approaching enemy.
 * Number: 3
 * Core Weapon: Yes
 * Ammo: Bullets
 * Primary: Continuous fire
 * Secondary: Burst shot
 * Primary ammo cost: 1
 * Secondary ammo cost: 3
 * Magazine size: 60

The burst shot consists of three shots in rapid succession. It's substantially more accurate, but requires a slight delay in between pulses. It's a better attack at mid-range where the continuous fire doesn't deal nearly as much damage.

Mortar
A long-range explosive weapon with a slow firing rate.
 * Number: 4
 * Core Weapon: Yes
 * Ammo: Rockets
 * Primary: Mortar shot
 * Damage: 55
 * Speed: 1900 qu/s
 * Secondary: Grenade shot
 * Damage: 55
 * Speed 1400 qu/s
 * Primary ammo cost: 2
 * Secondary ammo cost: 2

The mortar shot is a simple arcing shot that can travel long distances, detonates on impact, and does considerable damage over a fair splash radius.

The grenade shot detonates half a second after the grenade hits a surface or immediately if it hits a target. The grenade shot fires significantly faster than the mortar shot.

The mortar is a very good weapon for weapon combos either with the Devastator (Rocket Launcher) or the Vortex. On its own, it can be quite devastating in tight corridors, as the grenades can bounce behind corners and the mortars can be very difficult to dodge. As such, the mortar has its fair share of uses as an area denial weapon as well.

Electro
The weapon's primary plasma shot is much like a non-homing rocket shot from any other game, albeit with a rather small blast radius.
 * Number: 5
 * Core Weapon: Yes
 * Ammo: Cells
 * Primary: Plasma shot
 * Damage: 40
 * Speed: 2500 qu/s
 * Secondary: Plasma sphere
 * Damage: 30 if contacted by enemy, 50 each if combo
 * Speed 1000 qu/s
 * Primary ammo cost: 4
 * Secondary ammo cost: 2

The electro plasma shots are fired in bursts of up to three and act much like grenades that deal damage on impact with an enemy. They detonate a few seconds after they're fired, dealing low damage.

The electro plasma spheres can be detonated with a plasma shot, dealing staggering damage over a large area. The electro consumes ammunition quite quickly though; a full burst of three electro plasmas and a plasma shot to detonate them will consume a total of 10 cells.

This weapon is at its core an area denial weapon. Both the primary and secondary shots are usable on their own, making the electro quite flexible. However, a well-placed electro combo will almost always kill a player who's close to all three elecro plasmas. This weapon is the weapon of choice for corridors, but can be used effectively in other situations where a player can accurately predict where the target will go.

Crylink

 * Number: 6
 * Core Weapon: Yes
 * Ammo: Cells
 * Primary: Converging shot
 * Damage: 6 projectiles, 12 damage each
 * Speed: 2000 qu/s
 * Secondary (0.7): Suction shot
 * Damage: 5 projectiles, 10 damage each
 * Speed: 3000 qu/s
 * Secondary (0.6): Triple shot
 * Primary ammo cost: 3
 * Secondary ammo cost: 2

This is an unorthodox weapon in that it's like a mid to long-range shotgun with additional effects. The converging shot fires six evenly-spread plasma bursts that travel forward for as long as the primary fire key/button is held down. When the primary fire key/button is released, the shots converge on each other and spread outward. This weapon can deal very rapid and high damage if well-timed. Once one shot hits a target, the rest "detonate" as well, dealing splash damage in a small radius. These shots bounce off walls and slow their targets down, regardless of the direction the targets are moving in.

In Xonotic 0.6, the Crylink had a triple shot. The triple shot was much simpler, being an automatic fire of bouncing three side-by-side crylink shots.

In Xonotic 0.7, the triple shot (which was considered underpowered by many) was replaced with a deadlier suction shot. The attack fires five closely-packed shots that don't bounce, deal moderate damage, and upon detonating suck nearby enemies toward the explosion. The refire time is approximately the same as for the primary.

The crylink is a deadly weapon to player who are in the air above a high drop, such as in the Space Elevator or Newtonian Nightmare maps. Additionally, it's excellent in capture the flag games to slow down a fast-moving flag carrier. In other situations, it can be used as a long-range shotgun, and is very effective as such. Tight corridors might seem like a good place to use this weapon, however there is a significant risk of the shots bouncing back at the player in those environments.

Vortex
Vortex (formerly known as the Nex) is, in a nutshell, a sniper rifle that can be used like a pistol. It's very accurate, deals high damage (40 immediately after shooting and 80 when fully charged), and can pierce through multiple targets. It has a fair recharge time, and while it can be fired while it's recharging, its shots do significantly less damage. The Nex is special in that it does not have a secondary fire; holding down the right mouse button will zoom the weapon in.
 * Number: 7
 * Core Weapon: Yes
 * Ammo: Cells
 * Primary: Beam shot
 * Damage: 40 uncharged and up to 80 fully charged
 * Secondary: Zoom
 * Primary ammo cost: 6
 * Switch Time: 0.25 seconds

The Vortex is brutal as a finishing weapon or as a sniper rifle, but is very difficult to use effectively on its own at close to mid range. For this reason, players will often switch between the Vortex and several other weapons despite taking 0.25 seconds to switch from the Vortex (0.2 seconds to switch from any other weapon).

Hagar
The mortar's high-speed little brother, Hagar's primary fires rapid mini rockets that detonate on impact, though they do less damage and have a smaller blast radius than the mortar's.
 * Number: 8
 * Core Weapon: Yes
 * Ammo: Rockets
 * Primary: Rapid shot
 * Damage: 25
 * Speed: 2200 qu/s
 * Secondary: Multi shot
 * Damage: 35 per projectile, up to 4 projectiles
 * Speed: 2000 qu/s
 * Primary ammo cost: 1
 * Secondary ammo cost: 1 per rocket loaded, up to 4

The secondary fire of this weapon is one of the highest-damage attacks in the game. The multi-shot loads up to four mini rockets as the secondary fire key/button is held down. A beep will sound when all four rockets are loaded. Releasing said key/button will unleash the loaded rockets in a shotgun-like burst, and the weapon does not need to load all four rockets to fire. The rockets cannot be kept loaded indefinitely, however, and shortly after the weapon beeps a second time, the rockets will be released automatically if the player does not cancel the sequence. The secondary fire sequence can be cancelled by pressing the primary fire while still holding the secondary fire button down. This unloads all rockets instantly from secondary fire mode and uses no ammo.

This weapon's primary shot is best used at close range or when a target is next to a wall. The primary shot is excellent for finishing off cornered targets. Since the rockets themselves don't deal very high damage, it's important that many of them hit the target or land very close to the target in quick succession.

The secondary fire is only truly deadly at close range, and is good to use as an opening or surprise attack when joining the fray. It can very easily kill an unsuspecting or weakened target.

Real talk, Shit gets fucked up extremely.

Devastator
This rocket launcher fires rockets much like a rocket launcher in any other game would. After holding down the primary fire key, however, one can guide the rockets in the direction the player is looking. The rockets themselves have a veritable blast radius and can usually kill its targets in two shots.
 * Number: 9
 * Ammo: Rockets
 * Primary: Rocket
 * Damage: 80
 * Speed: 1300 qu/s
 * Secondary: In-Flight Detonation
 * Damage: 70
 * Primary ammo cost: 4
 * Secondary ammo cost: 0

The secondary fire button can be pressed to detonate a rocket in-flight. The rocket will still cause damage, and this ability can be very useful in open spaces where there are few surfaces to explode a rocket against.

The rocket launcher is a very versatile weapon, but is probably most capable when the target is near a wall or in an enclosed space, or when the shooter is above a target on the ground.

Other Weapons
These are weapons that are not in the list of core weapons and are not given when the mutator "Most Weapons" is activated. They may still appear as pickups around certain maps and may additionally replace core weapons when the mutator "New Toys" is activated.

@#!%'n Tuba
The tuba is the only weapon that does not have its own Weapon Arena. Both the primary and secondary "fires" do the same thing, albeit they do so with different pitches of noise. When used in a typical battle, the tuba produces a horrid randomly-generated "tune". This tune damages players rapidly but for low damage when they are very close to the player.
 * Number: 1
 * Replaces in New Toys: None
 * Ammo: Infinite
 * Primary: Low Pitch Noise
 * Secondary: High Pitch Noise

The tuba additionally obscures a large portion of the player's view, making it much harder to see targets and dodge their attacks. Consequently, the tuba is often deadlier to its user than to its victims.

The notes played by the tuba depends on the arrow keys/space bar pressed by the user. Holding jump will produce notes an octave higher and holding crouch will play notes an octave lower. Pressing multiple keys can also produce different notes. After practice and skill building, this can be useful to distract one's enemy with beautiful song.

Mine Layer
A weapon that launches mines a short distance, which detonate when an enemy is nearby. The secondary fire remote-detonates the mines. A mine layer allows the player to place up to three mines.
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 * Replaces in New Toys: Devastator
 * Ammo: Rockets
 * Primary: Mine Dispensal
 * Secondary: Remote detonation
 * Primary ammo cost: 4
 * Secondary ammo cost: 0

This weapon is by definition an area-denial weapon, but doesn't see much use on maps.

Heavy Laser Assault Cannon (HLAC)
This weapon is essentially a weapon meant for pushing enemies around. The rapid fire consists of laser bursts (which are just like those from a laser) fired roughly five times a second. The secondary fire shoots a very broad scatter shot of laser bursts (usually 4-6).
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 * Replaces in New Toys: Machine Gun
 * Ammo: Cells
 * Primary: Rapid laser fire
 * Secondary: Scatter laser fire
 * Primary ammo cost: 1
 * Secondary ammo cost: 10

Rifle
The Rifle is a more versatile sniper rifle in that it can be used both as a rifle and as a long-range shotgun. The primary fire fires a single shot long distances that can deal significant damage. The primary fire is unusual in that it can pierce through some walls (for example, the walls in the 8-bit arena map). This shot repeats roughly once every two seconds. The secondary shot fire several bullets in a very narrow spread and repeats about once per second. These shots do not pierce through walls.
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 * Replaces in New Toys: Vortex
 * Ammo: Bullets
 * Primary: Sniper shot
 * Secondary: Scatter shot
 * Primary ammo cost: 10
 * Secondary ammo cost: 10
 * Magazine size: 80

This weapon is best used at mid to long ranges. It's often called the "camping rifle" for a reason.

T.A.G. Seeker
The T.A.G. Seeker is a very deadly weapon that has changed considerably between Xonotic 0.6 and Xonotic 0.7.
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 * Replaces in New Toys: Hagar
 * Ammo: Rockets
 * Primary (0.7): Tag and Seek
 * Secondary (0.7): Explosive Volley
 * Primary (0.6): Seekers
 * Secondary (0.6): Tag
 * Primary ammo cost (0.7): 1
 * Secondary ammo cost (0.7): 1
 * Primary ammo cost (0.6): Unknown, assumed 1.
 * Secondary ammo cost (0.6): Unknown, assumed 1.

In Xonotic 0.7, the weapon works the following way. The primary fire launches an extremely fast-moving "tag" twice per second directly where the player looks. If the tag hits a target, then the weapon begins to launch automatically homing missiles three times per second for as long as the primary fire is held down. The missiles themselves deal low to moderate damage, but their excellent homing means that they hit very frequently and usually kill their victims quickly. When the primary fire is released, the tag is lost. The secondary fire is a rapid barrage of explosive tags with an extremely wide spread.

In Xonotic 0.6, the weapon worked the following way. The secondary fire would launch tags, which would persist for some time after they hit a player. Hitting a different player with a tag after one had already been tagged would change the tag rather than tag two players. The primary fire would launch seekers as above, which would simply travel in a straight line if there was no tag.

The seeker is an excellent weapon for a players of all levels and can be used in most situations. It's very dangerous in open spaces, where the rockets have a lot of space to home in on a player.

Grappling Hook
Although not technically a weapon, the grappling hook still has a place in the weapons panel. The primary fire launches a hook at the place the player aims it. Once the hook attaches, the player is swiftly pulled toward  the point where the hook is attached. The secondary fire drops a canister directly underneath the player which sucks nearby enemies toward the point of impact, making it easier to hit several of them with a splash damage weapon. Be warned, though, that using the secondary fire will render the primary unable to fire for a few seconds. The secondary fire also requires the player to have cells, but does not consume any. This may be a bug and may be changed in a future version.
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 * Replaces in New Toys: None
 * Ammo: Infinite
 * Primary: Hook
 * Secondary: Suction field

Port-O-Launch
Although not technically a weapon, the Port-O-Launch still has a place in the weapons panel. Unlike most weapons, this weapon's abilities change depending the game mode.
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 * Replaces in New Toys: None.
 * Ammo: Infinite
 * Primary (Normal): In/Orange Portal
 * Secondary (Normal) Out/Blue Portal
 * Primary (Nexball): Launch
 * Secondary (Nexball): Woosh

In most game modes, it acts a lot like a portal gun from Portal, albeit with a few quicks. When either the primary or a secondard shots are fired, a slow-moving projectile is sent. If it lands on a flat and large enough surface, a portal is created. These portals act like teleporters, NOT like warp zones or portals from Portal!

In Nexball, its behavior is different. If the ball is being held, then left clicking witht the Port-O-Launch will launch the ball.

It is currently unknown what the secondary fire actually does in the Nexball game mode.

Super Weapons
Superweapons are the deadliest class of weapons in Xonotic. They don't appear on official maps, but may be added in some unofficial maps and are accessible via mutators (including the All Weapons mutator). The weapons are deadly enough that for balance, picking them up only allows the player to use them for a limited time, after which they will disappear from the player's weapon selection.

Vaporizer
The Vaporizer is just like Vortex except that it fires once per second and will instantly kill players under normal conditions, even with boosted health and full armor. The only way to survive a Vaporizer shot is with the help of powerups (namely, the Extra Life powerup).
 * Number: 7
 * Ammo: Cells
 * Primary: Beam shot
 * Secondary: Laser shot
 * Primary ammo cost: 1
 * Secondary ammo cost: 0

The weapon's secondary fire is a laser shot that works just as the laser shot from the laser weapon. On the Minstagib mode, it deals no damage.

Fireball
The fireball is a weapon with which it's very easy to kill oneself, however its potential for damage is immense.
 * Number: 9
 * Ammo: Unknown, presumed fuel.
 * Primary: Fireball
 * Secondary: Flare

The primary fire, when pressed, begins launching a fireball. This firing process lasts a second and it cannot be stopped. After finishing, the weapon launches a fairly slow moving fireball that deals heavy damage to players that pass near it and immense splash damage over a large radius when it explodes. It's best not to detonate it anywhere close.

The secondary fire launches flares about once every three seconds which bounce more than any other projectile. When they pass near a target or hit one, they ignite it, dealing heavy and rapid damage over time.