Alien Rifle

**Used By** | * Zin
* Keith David
* Playa
* Shaundi
* Johnny Gat
* Pierce
* Benjamin King
* Matt Miller
 **Appears in** | *Saints Row IV*

**Alien Rifle** is a weapon in *Saints Row IV*.

*Fire three beams at once. More firepower, less aiming. What's not to love?*— Weapon Description

## Overview

The **Dominator** is the only costume for the Alien Rifle.

Damage, Overheat Level and Rate of Fire can all be upgraded 5 levels each,
with a separate **Vampiric Ammo** "ultimate upgrade".

The Alien Rifle is a laser rifle that the Zin commonly use as their primary fighting rifle. The Alien Rifle is capable of both rapid fire and 3 round bursts, as the Alien Rifle uses a Fully-Automatic/Burst-Fire trigger. This means tapping the trigger results in a 3 round burst and holding the trigger results in automatic bursts, giving it an edge over the Burst Rifle, which requires the player to press the trigger again to fire the gun again.

The Alien Rifle has good effective range and damage when upgraded, and does more damage than the Automatic Rifle and has better accuracy than the Burst Rifle. It's rate of fire is sluggish before it's upgraded, but after upgrades, it can deliver rapid rates of fire down range. The Alien Rifle has the advantages/disadvantages of having no magazine, and the manual cooldown works effectively at keeping the gun functional in combat.

The Alien Rifle fires in a three-shot burst, initially in a tight group, and spreading out in a triangular pattern if fired rapidly. This spread can be reduced by aiming, or negated by firing with a nominal delay between shots.

Like the Automatic Rifle, the Alien Rifle uses ammo rapidly and can make ammo consumption a issue if the Alien Rifle is relied on. It's lasers travel slower than bullet firing rifles, and firing multiple shots is mandatory like the Burst Rifle.

The Vampiric Ammo ultimate upgrade is excellent at keeping Playa alive, as killing enemies results in Health being immediately restored. This upgrade is also excellent outside the Simulations, as the only other way of regaining health is to avoid taking any damage. On Hardcore difficulty, the Vampiric Ammo upgrade becomes a very powerful upgrade and makes the Alien Rifle an excellent general purpose weapon, dealing rapid amounts of damage while healing Playa.

## Availability

* Most regular Zin are armed with the Dominator.
	+ Some regular Zin carry the rifle commonly at all Flashpoints when they become available, even at the earliest stages of entering The Simulation.
* Super Powered Zin carries the Dominator as their standard weapon up until Welcome Back.
	+ Zin that morphs into Super Powered Zin always use the Dominator upon conversion, even after Welcome Back.
* The Dominator is commonly available from Hotspots, both from regular Zin and Super Powered Zin, although Super Powered Zin may carry Tyrants and Thumpguns at certain Hotspots.

## Analysis

Pros
* Commonly available from Zin Soldiers.
* No reload required.
* Takes a while to overheat and can be cooled down even if it hasn't overheated.
* Good effective range.
* Vampiric Ammo upgrade provides alternative means of restoring Health.

Cons
* Somewhat underpowered until upgraded.
* Must fire 3 rounds per trigger pull.
* Somewhat low rate of fire and slow projectiles until upgraded.

## Trivia

* The Alien Rifle is resemblance to the Red Faction Assault Rifle in *Red Faction: Armageddon*.
* The Alien Rifle, Alien SMG and Alien Pistol are the only 3 weapons that are available outside the Simulations and can equip a different colour skin without joining a Co-op game on the first or the second mission of the game.

## References

1. ↑ **Image**:
2. ↑ **Mission**: The Real World
3. ↑ **Mission**: All Hands on Deck
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 **Mission**: Grand Finale
5. ↑ **Image**:
6. ↑ **Mission**: Welcome Back
7. ↑ **Mission**: All Hands on Deck (cutscene)
8. ↑ **YouTube**: All weapons, costumes and skins
9. ↑ **Image**:
10. ↑ **Image**:
11. ↑ **Image**:
12. ↑ **Image**:
13. ↑ **Image**:

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