Part 10

Unlock the full potential of the Shield Gun in Unreal Tournament 3. Learn its primary and secondary fire modes, damage stats, charge times, and effective combat strategies.

Shield Gun - Primary Fire Mode

This mode functions as a chargeable melee attack. When fully charged, it deals significant damage. You can hold the Primary Fire button to charge it, and release to attack. The weapon will automatically fire when within range of a valid target, but it won't harm teammates. The source text refers to this mode as the "impact hammer" for ease of reference.

• Damage vs. People: 40 (single tap) | 150 (fully charged)
• Damage vs. Vehicles: 40 (single tap) | 150 (fully charged)
• Rate of Fire: 1/1s (single tap) | chargeable
• Charge Time: 2s
• Special Features: Instant hit, melee range, knockback, chargeable shot, uses separate ammo, can backfire if released against a wall or floor, injuring yourself.

Tactics for Primary Fire:

• Useful when you have no other weapons or have just spawned. Chase enemies with Dodge-Jumps and use the charged attack. Be aware that the charging sound alerts enemies.
• Effective against lightly armored or damaged vehicles if you can surprise the occupants.
• Good for setting up ambushes in narrow hallways, though the Flak Cannon is often better.
• In Assault (AS) modes, it's excellent for quickly eliminating enemies on objectives, as they may be reluctant to leave the objective. It provides an instant kill, which is crucial in this scenario.
• Can be used for jump boosts: charge the gun, aim at your feet, release, and then jump. This allows access to otherwise unreachable areas but requires quiet conditions.

Shield Gun - Secondary Fire Mode

This mode deploys a shield that absorbs damage. It consumes ammo upon activation and continuously drains ammo while active. It also consumes ammo based on the damage absorbed, but it will not block more than 20 points of damage from a single hit. Stronger attacks will still inflict damage, reduced by 20 points. The shield deactivates when ammo runs out and requires a recharge. It's best used when fully recharged due to its high ammo consumption.

• Damage vs. People: N/A
• Damage vs. Vehicles: N/A
• Rate of Fire: Continuous
• Ammo per Shot: 15 (activation) + 1/1s (active drain)
• Max. Ammo: 100
• Recharge time: 100/15s
• Special Features: No damage dealt, damage absorption (max 20 per hit), recharging, continuous, uses separate ammo. The shield's color matches your team.

Tactics for Secondary Fire:

• The shield offers limited protection; it can stop bullets but heavy projectiles like rockets will still cause significant damage. It's best used to buy time to escape, find health, or traverse dangerous areas.
• Can be used when you have no other options to survive longer while searching for better weapons.
• Can defend a flag/ball carrier by absorbing some incoming fire, though it's ammo-intensive and less effective than direct offense.
• In Assault (AS), it's useful for running through enemy fire to reach an objective or for activating objectives, as it provides a few crucial seconds of defense while you are stationary.
• Can help survive falls by mitigating up to 20 points of damage.