Shock Rifle

## **Overview**

The Shock Rifle is a slow-firing burst weapon that shoots out large spheres of electricity. It does so in 2 bursts of 3 short-lived bullets per magazine in a spread angle. Alternatively, the user can hold the fire button to focus existing bullets on their cursor location (homing ability). These low damage bullets can be grouped up quickly and become lethal in numbers. Its bullets start slow, but accelerate as they travel in one direction and also have the ability to bounce/slide along walls. The Shock Rifle excels at single-target and chasing scenarios, as well as flushing out enemies hiding in hard to reach areas. However, its bullets' erratic nature leads to tricky maneuvering and usability.

###### **With the Shock Rifle**

A common strategy is to blindly shoot the Shock Rifle's bolts in front of you even before encountering opponents, as the bullets you shoot in front of you can act as a controllable, movable shield. You can also use the weapon's homing and/or trickshot feature to take out players hiding in hard to reach places using precise placement of your mouse cursor, however this is fairly difficult to do. When using the Shock Rifle, also be mindful that your bullets can't travel past your vision when in homing state since they always follow your mouse (which can't go off the screen).

###### **Against the Shock Rifle**

If you're going up against someone with the Shock Rifle, a good idea is to get a weapon that can quickly outgun them in terms of firepower. Rapid-fire weapons are a good option, but you could also opt for the Barrett as a counter (snipe them off before they can hit you with the slow bullets). Your best bet is to move erratically and dodge the slow-moving bullets so the opponent doesn't get a chance to drive their bullets onto you (this can be difficult because the bursts of bullets can overwhelm you quickly). Aim for unpredictable movement that will throw opponents off, some new unexpected rolls or jumps can force them to redirect their bullets toward your new location.

###### **Trivia**

* The Shock Rifle is a great counter against hidden enemies in hard-to-reach areas. Similarly, it's one of the best weapons to use when *you're* the one doing the hiding.
* The Shock Rifle is the first and only weapon to receive major reworks multiple times in the game. The old version of the Shock Rifle (see image) used to linearly shoot 5 large electricity spheres that could slide along walls. On 9/14/22, Shock Rifle's bullets were changed to bounce along walls instead. Then, on 10/10/22, Shock Rifle was completely reworked with new appearances and homing ability. On 2/14/22, the Shock Rifle was finally updated to be a burst weapon.
* The old version of the Shock Rifle used to allow players to kill others at great distance by off-screen killing. This was changed after it got completely revamped, possibly to prevent players from using it as a more powerful alternative to other weapons.
* Similar to the Boomerang, the Shock Rifle's projectiles are always colored depending on the user's team. For example, if the user was on the Alpha (red) team, then all of the Shock Rifle projectiles they fired would be colored red.
	+ In Deathmatch mode, if the user was on team purple, then the projectiles would be purple in color.
* The Shock Rifle is the first weapon in the game to ever have homing projectiles. Boomerang followed closely after when it was added along with the M60 and Uzi.