Demo Charges

**Rental Fee:** | $100,000

*\*Safety certification pending.
\*\*Nine additional modes pending.*

The **Demo Charges** are one of the Shipbreaker's three handheld tools, along with the Handheld Utility Grapple and Modular Laser Cutter. They are small, shaped explosives that can be placed freely on ships. Once triggered, they will blast through any salvage of Cut Grade 3 or lower in their explosion radius. They are the only item of equipment the player does not automatically have access to if playing in Career mode.

## Usage

Demo Charges come in two separate parts - the charge itself, and the handheld trigger. The player can swap between them by pressing the `3` key.

When holding the charges themselves,  can be used to place them. Demo Charges cut in a narrow (but not entirely flat) plane, which can be rotated before placement with . Once placed, the player can swap to the trigger and use  to detonate all placed charges.

A Demo Charge's explosion will destroy any salvage of Cut Grade 3 or lower in its blast radius (2m without upgrades). Hence, the player should be careful with their use, especially around sensitive equipment, and should ensure they have a safe distance between themselves and the placed charges before squeezing the trigger.

## Disarming

If the player has access to the Disarming Mechanism upgrade, placed Demo Charges can be disarmed and retrieved. Pressing `F` will bring up a "golf-swing" mini-game, with a counter-clockwise meter. By stopping the meter in the green region, the charge can be safely disarmed. If the player fails to disarm the charge, it will explode and set the player on fire. If the player brings up the mini-game and then takes no action, the mini-game will close without incident and the charge will stay in place. Be warned, if you place demo charges and then buy the disarming upgrade in a different shift, you cannot disarm the charges you've already placed.

## Damage and Repair

The Demo Charge trigger has a Durability level, indicated in both the Equipment tab in the Hab and the Helmet's HUD, which will decrease as the tool is used. If the Durability level falls to 75% or lower, the trigger will become damaged, indicated by visual and audio warnings. A damaged trigger has the chance to fail to detonate placed charges when squeezed, which will become more likely as durability falls further (up to a maximum of three times in a row).

The Demo Charges (as a whole) can be repaired with a Repair Kit between shifts in the Hab. Using a Repair Kit will immediately restore the tool's durability to 100%. They can be purchased from the Master Jack terminal, found in ships or received as rewards for meeting Salvage Goals. Purchasing Durability Drain upgrades with LYNX Tokens will reduce the rate at which durability is drained, so the player will not have to repair the tool as frequently.

## Upgrades

Demo Charges have their own upgrade tree, detailed below. Note that in order to use Demo Charges in Career mode, the player must first unlock them separately for 2000 LYNX Tokens, at Certification Rank 11 or above.

### Demo Charge License

\*The right to sue for bodily harm is forfeit with purchase.
Cut Grade 3,
Capacity = 5

### Self Cleanup

Explosion size = 2m
 Self Cleanup II
Explosion size = 1m
 Self Cleanup III
Explosion size = 0.25m

### Disarming Mechanism

CAUTION: Mishandling of the Disarming Mechanism can result in premature detonation of the Charge.
 Disarming Mechanism II
Warning: This will void your warranty!
 Disarming Mechanism III

## Trivia

* Demo Charges were introduced to replace the Cut Level line of upgrades for the Laser Cutter, in order to offer a more easily controllable method to cut through tough pieces of salvage.
* The small figure which appears next to a placed Demo Charge has been christened “Safety Sam” by the development team.
* The instructions for the Demo Charges are stated to be available in all languages except Esperanto.

## Known Issues

* Due to a graphical bug in the disarming mini-game, it is not currently possible to properly disarm Demo Charges once placed.
* Upon purchasing the first Demo Charge capacity upgrade in Career mode, the player will receive a free refill of Demo Charges at the start of every shift.
* Demo Charges purchased prior to Update 0.5.0 currently have their rental fees still incorrectly applied. Demo Charges purchased after this update are not affected by this issue.

## Gallery

* Demo Charges shown in the Hab equipment menu.