introduction | weapons | items | gameplay

Quake 2 was somewhat of a disappointment in the weapons department, because most players were used to the fast a furious Quake 1 arsenal. Quake 2's weapons are a little more single-player oriented, but they still work fairly well for deathmatching - they just aren't quite as powerful as they could be.

Each weapon is rated for how powerful it is against opponents (effectiveness) and how easily the weapon can be avoided (avoidability). The ratings are Awful, Poor, Average, Good, and Excellent. They are both taken from the user's point of view.

Blaster Effectiveness: Poor Avoidability: Awful

Well, it's better than Quake 1's axe, but it's also worse than a peashooter - you just can't win. It hurls a little blob of compressed gas really slowly towards a player, is almost impossible to use if you're in a laggy situation, and deals very little damage considering how difficult it is to use. However, it does actually fire something, so it's better than a weapon that requires contact... however, it's doubtful you'll be getting many frags with it.

If you have nothing besides the blaster, you should probably consider running, especially if your opponent has a better weapon - a.k.a. anything besides the blaster. However, if they also have a blaster, then there's a halfway decent chance that you can actually frag them, so you should at least try. Try jumping while firing. Blaster shots from above seem to be harder for opponents to avoid, especially if you can get close to them. Similar to the gauntlet in Quake 3, it's always fun to pull out the blaster when you have a better weapon. Once you've tricked your enemy into a false sense of security, nab 'em with your chaingun.

If you actually find yourself in a situation where you have to defend yourself against this thing, then you should primarily jump and strafe. Those two things alone should be enough. Most players using the blaster aren't going to be hard to frag, so your chances of scoring are very good. Don't let these people get away, because they'll probably try running if they see that you have a good weapon.

Shotgun Effectiveness: Poor Avoidability: Poor

What first person shooter would be complete without a shotgun? This is a pretty solid weapon, comparable to the shotgun in Quake 1. It's aiming is very tight, so it's fairly easy to hit players - but it doesn't deal a whole lot of damage. The shot radius is small, so it works for a pretty wide range of combat situations.

When you're using the shotgun, keep as close to your opponent as possible. This weapon deals the most damage at point blank range, and is not good for distance fighting. Jumping and strafing will help you avoid other attacks while not affecting your aim too much.

When defending yourself against this weapon, make sure you jump a lot - just strafing won't help much because of this weapon's tight nature. It's pretty easy to hit a player on your level regardless of how much they're moving around. As nice as it is, the shotgun is still a comparatively weak weapon, so just let them have it if you have anything better.

Double-Barrled Shotgun Effectiveness: Good Avoidability: Poor

This weapon deals a ton of damage - close up, of course. At long range it's nearly useless - you'd probably be better off using the blaster.

As with the normal shotgun, stay close to your opponent. Don't even think about your crosshair, judge your aim by the barrels of the gun. If the point between them is pointed at the player, then you will deal them the maximum amount of damage. If you are off center, then you will only deal about half. Don't jump, don't strafe, just lay it on. It'll be quick enough; a couple of well-placed shots will take down just about anyone.

Jumping really helps in defending against this weapon, but the first thing you need to do is get some distance between you and your aggressor if you don't think you can kill him in one or two shots. You have got to strafe jump in order to get away, because anything else is too slow. If you can do this backwards, you'll be in great shape because you can get some shots in... however, if you make a mistake and run into a wall or something, he'll probably catch up and that will basically be the end of you. If you think you're in a heap of trouble, you want to get away as fast as possible, because it may discourage a hunt. Hide if you can. You have probably seen people duck behind walls in movies - well, it works. If you think you can deal some damage, attack them while they're looking for you... just make sure they don't see you first.

Machinegun Effectiveness: Average Avoidability: Average

This one makes its debut in Quake 2, similar to the nailguns in Quake 1. It's a decent, well rounded weapon. It's not great, but it's not bad either - and it's easy to find. It's a good weapon for those large groups of people just dying to get you involved in their little quarrel. Of course, compared to the chaingun... well, it isn't much.

Thankfully, it doesn't kick back like it does in single player modes. Its shots are very spread out, though, so you don't have much of a chance of getting them all in - especially if there's any sort of distance involved. It does work for distances, but it's much more effective at close range. As with any rapid-fire weapon, orbiting helps a lot. Strafing is also a good thing to do.

When avoiding the machinegun, just remember that running won't work... you're going to have to defend yourself, or at least stall your opponent until they run out of ammo. Although, be careful - they could have a double-barreled shotgun in their pocket, and that's definitely something you don't want to face on a Monday morning. Jumping and strafing are both effective, but jumping will help you out a little bit more.

Chaingun Effectiveness: Good Avoidability: Average

To say that this is a nice weapon is putting it mildly. It deals an absolutely insane amount of damage, but is has its drawbacks. For one thing, the spin up and spin down time is very long, so it's not very responsive. Secondly, it chews up ammo like popcorn - but, then again, it's all well spent. When do you use the chaingun? When you absolutely need 100 bullets right there this instant.

When attacking, stay in a straight line with your opponent. As long as you maintain a close range he won't have time to kill you unless he has one heck of a good weapon. If he starts running, never let your crosshair leave him. You only have a few seconds worth of ammo, so you'd better use it wisely - you can't afford to lose your lock on him, even for a second. It won't take long at all as long as you're not sloppy.

So what do you do if you encounter something who's got one of these? Run like there's no tomorrow - because, heck, there probably won't be. Jump, strafe, orbit, or anything else you can think of... just don't ever run in a straight line. The idea is to force your opponent to run out of ammo before he can kill you, because then you can let him have it. Even if you have a pretty good weapon, it's not a good idea to go head-to-head with anyone who has a chaingun... it's easy enough to make them run out of ammo, and it's just not worth getting hurt that badly. If you have a good weapon, you want to stay alive to use it.

Grenade Launcher Effectiveness: Average Avoidability: Poor

Mmmm, sluggish pineapples - yummy! This grenade launcher is just too slow and lazy to be very effective. It would have been a great weapon if the grenades had bounced more and fired faster, but unfortunately you won't find it very useful for actually attacking people with. It's more of a tool than a weapon.

You should use the grenades when you don't want to be followed by someone - it discourages them from pursuing you, especially on stairs or other areas where they kind of stick to the floor. They're also good for using against large groups of people when you don't want to be involved, but you need to time it right or most of the people will have killed each other before your grenades explode. Just don't get into one of these battles too late, and you should be fine.

Defense is as easy as pie - er, pineapples. Just run out of the way when they're tossed at you, and avoid following the person if they leave a trail. If they hang around, stay close to them - they know better than you do where they fired their grenades and when they'll explode, so if you want to be anywhere it's probably wherever they are. Just remember that allowing them to run out of ammo is usually a futile effort, because if they have a decent amount of grenades it could take a very long time.

Rocket Launcher Effectiveness: Good Avoidability: Excellent

The rocket launcher is a weapon seen in just about every first person shooter you can buy. Unfortunately, the rockets are pitifully slow at both firing and travelling, especially if you're used to Quake 1 or Quake 3's faster versions. It still kicks some serious arse, though - the rockets will basically kill a freshly spawned player in one hit, and have a huge blast radius.

Obviously, you probably want to avoid shooting directly at walls. Unless, of course, you want to entertain your opponents rather than kill them! When attacking, aim at the ground and at the walls, using the splash damage to hurt them. Don't try to hit the players directly; in Quake 2, this is a very hard thing to accomplish without a whole lot of practice. Firing at a person's body makes the rockets very easy to avoid, because all they have to do is strafe out of the way - remember, the rockets travel slowly, so they are pretty easy to see coming.

When avoiding rockets, jump a lot. Not only does it help you avoid the attacks, but it also gives you a chance to rocket jump your way out of trouble if one happens to hit the ground underneath you. Running helps, but a good player won't let you get away when he knows he can frag you. Just keep a close eye on the rockets and try to strafe out of their path. If you want to get some distance because you have a weapon that works better that way, try to get into an open area where you're not surrounded by close walls. Your best bet is to stay nice and close, though, because that way you know they're hurting themselves. Even if the guy doesn't end up killing both of you, you still have the satisfaction of knowing he might meet his fate to a blaster around the corner.

Hyper Blaster Effectiveness: Good Avoidability: Good

Don't let the word "blaster" bother you, this blaster's definitely better than its counterpart. This is the big daddy every little blaster wants to be like. If has a very fast firing rate and the shots travel swiftly, but it uses a lot of important ammo - ammo that you could be using for the BFG, or for your energy armor. Despite these drawbacks, it's very effective.

Keep in mind that the weapon fires swiftly, but the discharges still do travel. Strafe and jump if you can, because this will make it hard for players to avoid the attack. Keep them in line with you whenever possible. If you are going down a ramp and they are below you, a nice jumping attack works well. Just try not to waste ammo, because you're also wasting important resources you could be using for bigger and better things.

To avoid it, run like heck, but always do it backwards. As long as you don't back into someone with an even better weapon, you'll be okay. Strafe and jump, but try to make your moves opposite to your opponent's. Fire at them, of course, because you have a chance of killing them as long as you have something halfway decent. It's fairly easy to see exactly where they're firing since the shots show up, so use that to your advantage.

Railgun Effectiveness: Excellent Avoidability: Good

You're looking at the mother of all railguns. Not only is it better than Quake 3's, but it's also... well... the mother of it. It has a very tight feeling to it, which makes it easy to use, especially at close range. Not only that, but the slugs deal a load of damage. The only problem with it is that it's fairly easy to avoid and has a slow firing rate.

Keep your crosshair on players all the time, compensating for your lag, of course. Remember that the railgun has no travel time or limit on distance - if you can see the players, you can kill them. If they are pretty far away, don't move around a whole lot. If they're close, use the rocket launcher if you have it... it will deal about the same amount of damage, but it's easier to use and reloads faster. If they are really, really close, switch back to the railgun... it's very easy to use in face-to-face combat, and it won't hurt you with splash damage.

While avoiding this weapon, move around as much as you can, and try to randomize your motions. A good player will quickly learn your patterns of defense and use them against you. Don't ever let him look at you too long, because once he has set up his aim you're sure to be dead. Orbit them if you can, strafing isn't extremely effective. Any consistent movement like that makes it easy for your aggressor to predict where you will be when he fires.

BFG 10k Effectiveness: Good Avoidability: Excellent

Surprisingly, it's not the best weapon in the game - but it is the hardest to avoid. It works great in a large room, and it looks kind of cool, but it should be kept only for those two situations. Pull it out when you're in a large group of people, and pull it out when you're all alone and you need something pretty to look at.

One important thing to remember: at 50 cells a blast, yours had better hit home. Of course, the nature of this weapon dictates that this is not a hard task. The more people the better, try not to waste that many cells on one person. It is not likely you will kill yourself, but remember that the orb of joy does explode when it hits something - in other words, keep your distance from players or walls when firing it. That big green ball will pretty much kill anything it comes close to, so just fire it straight down the middle of the room. If you can, try "charging" it (i.e. press the fire button) outside of the room, and then run into the room right at the point where it's going to come out - this way no one will hear the charging sound, and it'll be a big surprise for everyone.

Defense against something like this is tough, but it's certainly not complicated: run, Quaker, run. Try to get behind a corner as far away from that green globule of joy as possible, and don't ever look into the blast - it might hurt your eyes.

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