Xonitic 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 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:
Bullets
Shells
Cells
Rockets
The exception is the laser, which does 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.
These are the weapons with which a player starts. They don't generally appear on maps for this reason. They are also a part of the Core Weapons group (see below).
Laser
Number: 1
Ammo: Infinite
Primary: Laser shot
Secondary: Switch to last used weapon before the 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.
Contrary to the name, the laser is not a hitscan weapon. Laser's "bolt" does take some time to reach distant targets and it can be bounced off of launchpads.
The laser 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
Number: 2
Core Weapon: Yes
Ammo: Shells
Primary: Scatter shot
Secondary: Melee
Primary ammo cost: 1
Secondary ammo cost: 0
It's much 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.
Its secondary melee attack is not to be underestimated, as it can do very heavy damage. 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
Number: 3
Core Weapon: Yes
Ammo: Bullets
Primary: Continuous fire
Secondary: Burst shot
Primary ammo cost: 1
Secondary ammo cost: 3
Magazine size: 60
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.
The burst shot consists three shots in rapid succesion. It is more substantially more accurate, but requires a slight delay in between pulses. It's a better attack to at mid-range where the continuous fire doesn't deal nearly as much damage.
Mortar
Number: 4
Core Weapon: Yes
Ammo: Bullets
Primary: Mortar shot
Secondary: Genade shot
Primary ammo cost: 2
Secondary ammo cost: 2
A long-range explosive weapon with a slow firing rate.
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 Rocket Launcher or the Nex. 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
Number: 5
Core Weapon: Yes
Ammo: Cells
Primary: Plasma shot
Secondary: Electro plasma shot
Primary ammo cost: 4
Secondary ammo cost: 2
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.
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
Secondary (0.6): Triple shot
Secondary (0.7): Suction 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.
In Xonotic 0.6, the Crylink had a triple shot. The triple shot was much simpler, being an automatic fire of 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.
All crylink shots bounce off walls and slow their targets down, regardless of the direction the targets are moving in.
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.
Nex
Number: 7
Core Weapon: Yes
Ammo: Cells
Primary: Beam shot
Secondary: Zoom
Primary ammo cost: 6
Secondary ammo cost: 0
Nex is, in a nutshell, a sniper rifle that can be used like a pistol. It's very accurate, deals high damage (80 damage 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.
The Nex 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 Nex and several other weapons, allowing them to continue dealing damage while the Nex is recharging.
Hagar
Number: 8
Core Weapon: Yes
Ammo: Rockets
Primary: Rapid shot
Secondary: Multi shot
Primary ammo cost: 1
Secondary ammo cost: 1 per rocket loaded, up to 4
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.
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. The secondary fire of this weapon is one of the highest-damage attacks in the game.
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 frey. It can very easily kill an unsuspecting or weakened target.
Rocket Launcher
Number: 9
Ammo: Rockets
Primary: Rocket
Secondary: In-Flight Detonation
Primary ammo cost: 4
Secondary ammo cost: 0
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.
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.
Mine Layer
Number: 4
Replaces in New Toys: Rocket Launcher
Ammo: Rockets
Primary: Mine Dispensal
Secondary: Remote detonation
Primary ammo cost: 4
Secondary ammo cost: 0
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.
This weapon is by definition an area-denial weapon, but doesn't see much use on maps.
Heavy Laser Assault Cannon (HLAC)
Number: 6
Replaces in New Toys: Machine Gun
Ammo: Cells
Primary: Rapid laser fire
Secondary: Scatter laser fire
Primary ammo cost: 1
Secondary ammo cost: 10
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).
Rifle
Number: 7
Replaces in New Toys: Nex
Ammo: Bullets
Primary: Sniper shot
Secondary: Scatter shot
Primary ammo cost: 10
Secondary ammo cost: 10
Magazine size: 80
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.
This weapon is best used at mid to long ranges. It's often called the "camping rifle" for a reason.
Grappling Hook
Number: 0
Replaces in New Toys: None
Ammo: Infinite
Primary: Hook
Secondary: Suction field
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.
Port-O-Launch
Number: 0
Replaces in New Toys: None.
Ammo: Infinite
Primary (Normal): In/Orange Portal
Secondary (Normal) Out/Blue Portal
Primary (Nexball): Launch
Secondary (Nexball): Woosh
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.
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 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.
MinstaNex
Number: 7
Ammo: Cells
Primary: Beam shot
Secondary: Laser shot
Primary ammo cost: 1
Secondary ammo cost: 0
A weapon that is usually not normally available on maps, the MinstaNex is just like Nex 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 MinstaNex shot is with the help of powerups (namely, the Extra Life powerup).
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.
