ETF Rifle

 

Explosive-Tipped Flechette (ETF) Rifle
Production information
Technical specifications
Damage Per Hit	10
Magazine Size	50
Maximum Ammunition	200 Bandolier: 250 Ammo Pack: 300 (2023 remaster only)
Ammunition Type	Flechettes
Operation	Automatic
Rate of Fire	10 shots per second
Usage
Era(s)	Quake II: Ground Zero
[Source]

“	It's powerful, efficient, and able to pierce armor. What more could you ask for? This weapon fires explosive-tipped flechettes that pack a deadly wallop.	”
—Ground Zero Manual

The ETF Rifle, or Explosive-Tipped Flechette Rifle to give it its full name, is a new weapon introduced in Ground Zero. It is reminiscent of the Nailgun from the first Quake game.

In terms of its rate of fire and the overall physics of the projectiles it fires, it's very similar to the Hyperblaster, although the ETF Rifle is only half as powerful as the Hyperblaster (10 damage per hit, compared to 20 per hit for the Hyperblaster, and they have the same rate of fire). On the plus side, it has its own ammo supply all to itself - the relatively common flechettes - whereas the Hyperblaster uses cells and is in competition with the BFG10k, Power Shield and Plasma Beam for its ammunition. As a minor point, it also doesn't have a spin-down delay like the Hyperblaster or Chain Gun, allowing it to resume firing more quickly after the player has released the trigger.

The ETF Rifle's flechettes also have the unique ability to bypass conventional armor, delivering their damage directly to the target's health, whereas other weapons' damage is distributed between health and armor. In the original game, they also dealt double cell damage to the Power Screen and Power Shield, but in the 2023 Remaster this property was removed and given to energy weapons instead.

Strategies

• In Ground Zero expansion (the only place the ETF Rifle is found), Gunners and Berserkers have a tendency to sidestep to dodge certain projectiles (notably those fired by the ETF Rifle and Hyperblaster), but with some care you can still score hits on them. It is a good option against Berserkers in the 2023 remastered edition; the ideal strategy is to stay close to the Berserker so it doesn't perform its leap attack, but not close enough that it will hit you with its melee strikes; the ETF Rifle performs well against a Berserker at this range.
• Stalkers on the other hand will effortlessly dodge these projectiles by leaping to and from the ceiling, so the ETF Rifle is a poor choice against them. Gladiators, Medics, Parasites, Daedalus, Icarus and Tanks make better targets for the ETF Rifle.
• Bear in mind that the ETF Rifle can't do anything that the Hyperblaster can't do better; the ETF Rifle's only significant advantage over the Hyperblaster is that it has its own ammo supply all to itself and doesn't compete for valuable cells which might be better used for the BFG10k and Power Shield. Therefore it's a good idea to think of the ETF Rifle as something of a secondary weapon, to be used in less challenging situations while saving cells for the tougher fights.
• You can use it against Guards, but the Machine Gun does a better job of it, due to it being a hitscan weapon. The ETF Rifle does have a higher damage output than the Machine Gun, though, so it's better against enemies you can reliably hit with its projectiles. In the 2023 remaster, Guards tend to dodge the ETF Rifle projectiles too.
• The ETF Rifle's ability to bypass conventional armor could allow it to punch above its weight in multiplayer if another player is wearing Body Armor. In single-player, the only enemy who counts as wearing conventional armor is the Turret, which therefore allows the ETF Rifle to destroy them with only five hits, although the Rocket Launcher is still the best weapon to use against them. Still, if a player is short on rockets then the ETF Rifle makes a decent backup option against the Turret.

Trivia

• In the original release of Ground Zero, the Bandolier increases your ammo capacity for flechettes (from 200 to 250), but the Ammo Pack does not. With other types of ammunition, the Ammo Pack increases capacity more so than the Bandolier. This was probably an oversight by the developers, but it has been fixed in the 2023 remaster.
• The 2023 remaster includes a new single-player campaign Call of the Machine. The ETF Rifle is not available for the player in this campaign, but a new enemy is introduced, the Gunner Commander, who is armed with one. Like the ETF Rifle discussed here, its flechettes have the ability to bypass the player's conventional armor.
• In the original release of Ground Zero, the weapon's similarity to Quake's Nailgun was furthered by the fact that it used the same shooting sound. The 2023 remaster gives it a new shooting sound for more uniqueness.
• Likewise, in the original game the spawn point of the flechettes from the barrel of the gun was slightly off, leading to an awkward firing line that made the weapon harder to aim reliably, as enemies would tend to dodge it. This has been corrected in the 2023 remaster, and the projectiles are now properly centered.

Gallery

First person view

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