(Forgive me for breaking the rule of doubleposting, but it's information time.)
EXU2: Arsenal Analysis, Part IThis section of the topic will cover the first few weapons that can be found within the original Batshit Insane Campaign.
NOTE: This information is subject to change as updates are released and is intended mostly for people new to EXU2's arsenal and gameplay. If you're gonna be a smartass we're sending the Demon Chef's Cousin on your ass. I'm serious. No, not THAT serious... look, just get on with reading!Before we start...It's important to know certain things. And knowledge is power, as they say. Excessive Unreal 2: Batshit Insane takes its name VERY literally from the second map onwards... A really important fact to know is that you
should not run into the fray. Why is this? Well... you're sure to die very quickly. Namely because of the fact that almost every zone in this campaign (and in many cases, in UBerserker's
G59 campaign) is
filled with enemies, left and right. Even certain hallways are crammed with things ready to rip you a new one.. An ideal scenario is to
keep yourself behind a wall or some other obstacle (large crates, doors that open/close rapidly) while jumping out of the cover and firing off several shots, then hiding again. Dodging and sidestepping only helps so much as a LOT of projectiles fired by your enemies will have
massive speed and considerable splash damage - that's bad if you're hugging a wall and it happens to hit said wall next to you, especially if you don't have the armor to take a blast like that without almost dying or taking serious damage (this damage can turn your screen
completely red due to the Unreal Engine's damage logic - numbers over 150 will most likely do this and make you
vulnerable during this as you are mostly unable to see what's coming at you, and you... well, put simply, you're fucked).
Aside from that, there's also
certain items you'll want to conserve for when things truly get ugly. Armor Seeds, which generate a 750 point armor, and 100-point fruit Seeds are reserved for when your heavier armors are depleted (along with, of course, your HP pool). Aggressive, powerful items such as
Battle Flares and
Firestorm Generators (Some very important and helpful flares will be covered later on in a future post as well).
Use these sparingly, reserving them only when faced with rooms filled with enemies, or confronted with a powerful opponent (such as a boss). And even THEN you'll want to save the good stuff - try to make use of the weapons available to you if at all possible, and if it doesn't work... time to pop something
sliiiiiiiiiiiightly more volatile.
Weapon Slots 1 and 21-A: EXU's Translocator Source ModuleWeapon type: Transport, exploration, telefragging capacity
Origin: Human
Damage Type: Instant death (highly damaged Translocation disc, telefrag)
Ammunition Capacity: N/A
First located in: Map 01: Damnation
"Sir? I found one of the Translocator, uh... source or whatever modules on this body. It seems like it's in good shape; nothin' too wrong about it, but it looks like the disc is a bit... sturdier for some weird-ass reason. No, sir, it doesn't seem to have been tampered with. Yeah, I'll bring it back to the encampment ASAP, ETA 2 hours. Wigand ou- *Unknown* Aw shit, I'm outta here! *Unknown*"-Officer Wigand to Polaris Command on the Translocator of a dead soldier.We're all familiar with the translocator from Unreal Tournament, yes? The little device that helps us reach the unreachable and to travel a little faster via a couple of tricks, yes? Well, EXU features an ever-so-slightly different variation on the Translocator of it's father-game; While the primary and secondary fire have remained unchanged from its incarnation in UT, one thing is notable about the disc it fires:
It can handle far more damage than the original.Batshit Insane features a healthy plethora of
secret areas where you can obtain many goodies, ranging from healing items, to flares, and even
powerful weaponry. It's important to remember that the Translocator
enables you to go to places where you normally could not without its assistance. After clearing an area (WATCH OUT FOR CAMERAS IF YOU LIKE HAVING HEALTH AND ARMOR. Will be covered in a future post just like the flares), make good use of the device to traverse to otherwise unreachable ledges, where, quite commonly, decent items abode.
But what if there's something REALLY interesting in the distance? The translocator can't reach it...Oh, yes it can. Certain weapons have massive momentum on certain firing modes, enabling the player to launch the disc enormous distances. This is where the increased durability of the disc comes into play - it can take one hell of a beating and still function normally. This can come in handy to cover a large area with the disc with relative ease, whereas the regular translocator would fizzle after a few Enforcer rounds.
One other thing the Translocator can do, just like in UT, is
telefrag an enemy. If you're low on ammunition at certain points, both the device and the next weapon can help with this, but not against opponents who fire many projectiles - the disc could get hit and knocked off-course, forcing you to retrieve it. Only use the telefragging capability of the Translocator when pinned down by a large opponent.
WARNING: This does NOT work on certain enemies. All it'll do against such enemies is bounce off, or worse, break - Do not bother using the Translocator against opponents who are immune to it, unless it is used as a means of escape.Lastly, remember that you can press the fire and alt fire keys at once to quickly switch back to your previous weapon. It can come in handy.
1-B: The ExtractorWeapon Type: High-damage melee-range vacuum
Origin: Demonic
Damage Type: Physical - affects nearly all enemies
Ammunition Capacity: 1-99 (100 triggers the tertiary fire AKA Gutburst)
First located in: Map 01: Damnation
"*Static*... Sir? Sir, I've found, uh... what even is this... *thunk* Oh. Oh hang on, I'm holding it wr-*Static*... Uh, it looks like it's some sort of- *Static*... Okay, hang on, let me fix this fucking transmitter, the static is gonna make my ears bleed... *Wigand moves out of cover briefly*... Alright, no sight of any hostiles. This thing looks like, uh... that "Impact Hammer" thing from the Liandri Tournament... oh, you don't watch it, sir? Well, the thing is literally like a 21st century jackhammer on steroids; just used as a weapon or something. But... the inner piston thing is replaced with... uh. A cylinder of some s- *The sound of guts flying across the area and Wigand cursing fill the air* WHAT THE HECK?! This shit just shot out a hailstorm of... are those intestines and limbs? What the fuck happened with this thing? Never mind, fuck it, I'm dropping it and advancing - nobody in their right mind would use this as a weapon - not with all the artillery units in the area *THUNK - the Extractor is dropped* I have to move on before I get spotted. ETA 1 hour and 42 minutes judging from the holomap, if it's correct... Wigand out."-Officer Wigand to Polaris Command on the odd weapon, located 18 minutes from the previous transmission location.The Extractor is the melee weapon of the mod.
Primary Fire: Holding down the Primary fire causes the weapon to begin sucking the guts/mechanisms of any enemy within close-to-point-blank range of the wielder, filling the tanks with the remains of your foes. At 100 kilos (Yes, kilos - you were able to carry 100 kilos of Tarydium byproduct in Unreal, so stop whining about it being heavy, you pansey!) of its "ammunition", the weapon will
exhume the entirity of its tanks in a violent shower of guts, gears and blood, depending on what got sucked in. This
Gutburst deals ENORMOUS amounts of damage, normally enough to put down even larger, more durable opponents, or otherwise plowing down mobs of enemies. Best used in narrow corridors and opponents who only try to melee you, or otherwise
incapacitated or unaware foes. The damage of the primary fire is so high that it'll usually end up
stunning your target, letting you obliterate them with ease.
Secondary Fire: The alt-fire of this weapon is the complete opposite of the primary fire - absolutely harmless, but is nonetheless useful. The Extractor has a
scope (a melee weapon with a fucking scope, go figure) attached to it - While it doesn't help much with the weapon itself, it can be used to line up shots with many other weapons from the arsenal of EXU, and to identify and assess the threat of an enemy group from a distance.
Tertiary Fire: Pressing both the Fire and Alt-Fire keys at once will result in the Extractor immediately spewing out its contents at anything it's directed at. It requires a
minimum filling of 15% to enable the tertiary fire. Note that even at 15%, the Gutburst is still very powerful.
The Gutburst may be "bounced" around corners, much like the Flak Cannon's primary fire. The chunks will still deal a ton of damage and normally kill any lesser foes (or severely injuring heavier ones). One last thing to remember is that the Extractor's
projectiles do not hurt the wielder even if they bounce back at them somehow.2-A: The PiddledoperWeapon Type: Rapid-fire energy pistol
Origin: Human
Damage Type: Energy
Ammunition Capacity: 0-999 (Slowly recharges over time - recharge rate increased with akimbo)
First located in: Map 01: Damnation
"Polaris Command! Officer Wigand here requesting b-*Static*up! I repeat! I'm in need of backup here! My location is... oh, COME ON! *Unknown* Fuck off! I'm down on Z-P9 ammo! Repeat! Down on Z-P9 ammo, I have NO OTHER weapons with me! I need a dropoff of chargers at *Static*... n*Static* of *Static* bl-*Static* falls, 238 clicks away! Get me a Z-ER-900/5 if... *Unknown* SHIT, that thing is on to me, I gotta go. Get a fucking airstrike ready or something, ANYTHING, shit's huge! Wigand out!"-Wigand's request for the Z-P9 "Piddledoper" chargers along with another weapon.The first weapon you find right next to you in the first actual map of EXU, the Piddledoper, unlike the Enforcer and Automag of Unreal, which were almost always put out of commission on lower difficulties by more powerful weaponry (and a vast supply of ammo for them), the Piddledoper prefers to break the meta, remaining useful at all times.
Primary Fire: A consistent stream of low-damage energy balls at a high rate of fire with extreme range when held down. While not as harmful as the Secondary Fire, the primary's
projectiles travel at commendable speeds while
consuming minimal ammunition and dealing a fair amount of
splash damage, making it valuable against clusters of small enemies and distant opponents if you don't have the ammunition of other weapons to blow out that pack of Pupae trying to hug your face.
Secondary Fire:: A highly concentrated, powerful beam of energy is shot out when held down. This firing mode deals damage much faster than the previous one, but consumes ammo at a much faster pace, just like the Minigun. Particularly useful against single, heavy targets such as the Mechanical Brutes. Note that the range of the secondary fire is limited to a very much shorter reach than the energy balls of the primary fire and will not hit enemies that are far away from you.
Tertiary Fire: The last firing mode of the Piddledoper is the strongest. Upon holding down both the Fire and Alt-Fire keys, the Piddledoper will launch a short-range projectile (somewhat shorter range than the secondary fire) that
deals very high damage and stuns all targets hit by the blast for 1.5 seconds., consuming 50 ammo in the process. The stun effect can be "stacked"; Hitting the same target with another orb adds another 1.5 seconds to the stun, resulting in 3 seconds of inaction, another rolls it up to 4.5, then 6.0, then 7.5, and so on... this can be done until the weapon (or weapons) are absolutely depleted of ammunition. This method isn't advisable against targets that can be disposed in a better way; instead, go for 3 orbs (or 2x2 if you are wielding akimbo Piddledopers) and then
switch to the Extractor. Make good use of the stun-time while you can and suck the target's guts right out,
followed up by a Gutburst as soon as the stun wears off. Repeat this until the target dies.
The Piddledoper may be held akimbo-style, like the Enforcers of Unreal Tournament. All effects are doubled (doubled recharge rate, projectiles fired, doubled ammuntion consumption, along with the stun effects => One Tertiary Fire launches two orbs instead of one, immediately resulting in a 3-second stun.) The weapon, held double, becomes all the more powerful.
WARNING: The Tertiary Fire, even when fired from only one Piddledoper, is
VERY damaging.
Avoid its use in close-to-point-blank combat; you may end up killing yourself if you're too low on armor to survive.
2-B: The Flare GunWeapon Type: Long-range Battle Flare launcher
Origin: Demonic
Damage Type: Varies per Flare
Ammunition Capacity: Flare Inventory
First located in: Map 01: Damnation
"While the structure of the weapon appears to be Terran, it holds no known ammunition in its barrel; not even 15 or 20 milimeter bullets fit... The inner firing mechanism appears to be a set of two pistons; one set into the other, and smaller. We're assuming it's intended to fire a certain kind of explosive - or perhaps even several types, much like our M392 Grenade Launchers in either armed or unarmed modes. We're still analyzing the weapon as we speak. Further data will be given to Command as soon as it's clear what this armament does, or rather, what it would fire."-Polaris Field Analyst determining the properties of the vaguely Terran-stylized gun.As mentioned before, you'll find quite a few "Battle Flares" in EXU-style maps. While their power is
lethal to almost anything but the strongest foes, the usual delivery method - thrown by hand like a shrapnel grenade or dynamite stick - often isn't enough to reach distant clusters of foes / heavy enemies. What you'll want is the
Flare Gun for those kinds of encounters.
Primary Fire: Launches a Flare a great distance at high velocity. Upon striking a solid surface, the flare will detonate, releasing whatever projectiles / explosives it has in it. Using this at point blank range is unadvised unless you're using certain types of flares which
don't harm you. Along with that, it's preferable to keep such flares selected in your inventory and have some other weapon out for foes at greater ranges, while using the flares at close range and using a splash-weapon (let's say the Piddledoper(s)) to trigger it.
Secondary Fire: Almost entirely identical to the secondary fire, save one feature: Only the outer piston
(or at least I imagine it to be a piston of some sorts) will hit the currently chambered Battle Flare, launching it, but causing it to bounce off of surfaces, with its regular detonation time set. The Flare can then be triggered by enemy splash damage, or by the player's weaponry, or can be waited to blow up. Can be bounced around corners into the center of a large room to
spread out the damage area, ensuring that the room is clear and safe to enter (in most cases).
One thing to note is that the Flare Gun will automatically switch your inventory to a different Flare if one type runs out. Forcibly switching from a flare to a regular inventory item (such as your Translator) will
disable the gun from firing. Keep this in mind.
Well. That was enjoyable to write down, haha. If any errors are seen in this information, feel free to correct me. I'm not a 100% professional EXU player so yeah. No Demon Chef Cousins to fear
Skaarj Scout
Nali Priest
Skaarj Berserker
And glad that you dig Excessive Unreal 2 as much as the rest of us. If you're ever in the mood for another EXU2 server that runs the latest version + deathmatch with monsters, I recommend you check out my server @ 
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