How to Use Different Power Weapons¶

Basic Starting Weapons¶

At the beginning of most game modes you’ll start off with a basic assault rifle, the MA40 AR. This is one of the most versatile weapons in the game which is most effective at short to medium range, but it can also be used at relatively long range in a pinch. However, the longer the range, the more difficult you’ll find it to kill opponents with this weapon, and with other weapons of the same short to medium range.

Prioritise & Practice With Power Weapons¶

As you play through a map you’ll find a number of power weapon and power equipment spawns. These are essentially what you’d expect: spawns of more powerful weapons and equipment. In terms of weapons you’ll find sniper rifles, plasma carbines, burst rifles, precision auto rifles, semi-auto rifles, more powerful pistols with different specialised uses, shotguns, a rocket launcher, and other plasma / energy weapons.

In total there are currently 20 different weapon types, and that’s a lot to take in for a beginner. Thankfully, there’s a handy Academy game mode, where you can practice weapon drills with each weapon and learn the basic utility of each. As you might expect, the sniper rifle is most useful at long range, allowing you to take out enemies in one shot if you hit them in the head. However the gun becomes much less useful at short to medium range, where enemies can outmanoeuvre you as you try to aim with the scope. It’s possible to try a no-scope kill at this range, but it’s far from reliable. In this situation, the basic MA40 AR assault rifle is far more useful.

The weapons that you’ll tend to enjoy using will depend on your own preferred playstyle, but there are some weapons which are undeniably better for specific tasks. For example, the Pulse Carbine (most effective at close to medium range) has the ability to track targets that you hit. This can make it useful for your team to keep eyes on the enemy, allowing you to see exactly where they’re going. If you’re looking for AoE damage, the Shock Rifle is particularly effective, but is only intended for long range support. If you get into a close range fight with the Shock Rifle, you’ll be relying on a small amount of ammunition to get the work done, which means if you miss the enemy will immediately have the advantage and can make short work of you in seconds.

You’ll need to practice with different power weapons to get used to their differences in use, aim, and reload times. Most of them can be used in the same way that classic rifles can, but sometimes with increased destructive power against vehicles, as with the Shock Rifle:

Another useful weapon is the Disrupter, a short to medium range weapon which applies a DoT (Damage over Time) effect on the target. Although the Disrupter inflicts relatively small amounts of damage initially, if you get a few hits off the DoT will have a good chance of killing your opponent even as they run away. Even if you haven’t done enough damage to kill your opponent initially, the DoT will prevent them from recharging their shield, which gives you enough time to pursue them and finish them off with a different weapon or a melee attack.

There are also weapons which are capable of stripping opponents of their shields, such as the Sentinel Beam and the Plasma Pistol. Again, while these can’t match the fire power of some of the other weapons, they can be extremely useful as a support weapon. In terms of AoE (Area of Effect) damage weapons, the the Cindershot (essentially a grenade launcher), Ravager (plasma bursts), Hydra and M41 SPNKR (different types of rocket launchers) can all be used to devastating effect. They each fire in different ways and they’ll certainly take some getting used to, but if used effectively they can easily shut down an entire group of opponents.

The below demonstrates the effectiveness of the Skewer power weapon, which is particularly useful for destroying vehicles.