Gauss cannon

The Gauss cannon.

The Gauss cannon is a new power weapon found in the 2016 Doom game, first publicly displayed at QuakeCon 2015 and officially referenced by id Software's announcement of the then-upcoming closed alpha test the following October. It appears in both the single player campaign and multiplayer, with slightly different properties. Despite its name, the Gauss cannon is actually a portable railgun, with mechanics similar to the railguns of the Quake series.

"A devastatingly accurate long-range weapon with a noticeable kick that must be compensated by the operator."

― SnapMap description

Research and development

The UAC had previously utilized electromagnetic acceleration in applications such as ore diggers on the Deimos and Phobos moons and in construction of the Argent Tower, so a weaponized application was more or less inevitable. Steel flechettes are accelerated through the weapon's magnetized chamber to high velocity with extreme accuracy. The ammunition is cheap, abundant, and is designed to pierce multiple targets.

Tactical analysis

The Gauss cannon is a powerful weapon—second only to the BFG-9000—that dispatches most enemies in somewhere between one to three shots, and fires with near-perfect accuracy. It is critical for gameplay on Nightmare and Ultra-Nightmare skill levels, where ammunition for other weapons is more limited and damage output must be maximized. The weapon has significant recoil, resulting in physical knockback which must be compensated for when firing. It consumes 15 cell units per shot.

Multiplayer

The Gauss cannon in multiplayer is specifically designed as a counter to the demon rune relic, with limited ammunition which cannot be replenished and the capability of killing players in a single shot. Its alternate fire mode allows other players to be seen through walls via a form of x-ray vision. Like the demon rune, the Gauss cannon will periodically respawn during the arena battle gameplay mode. Numerous sources have described its current state as being overpowered, and it featured as a significant factor in negative reviews of the multiplayer component during the open beta.

The Gauss cannon is available in Argent Breach, Beneath, Empyrian, Infernal, Offering and Sacrilegious.

Modifications

Precision Bolt

The precision bolt modification adds a telescopic sight, increasing long-range accuracy. The modification also provides the ability to accumulate additional charge while using the scope, releasing the projectile at a higher velocity. A fully charged flechette can pierce multiple targets.

Siege Mode

The siege mode modification consists of an argon gas ionizer and vacuum seal to the weapon's launch chamber. The ionized gas is released as plasma when the weapon is fired, adding a beam effect to the kinetic projectile. The user must stay stationary when charging this firing mode due to the volatile gas. Aside from piercing multiple targets, the beam will also create a blast effect upon impact. Consumes either 30, 45 or 60 cell units per shot, seemingly at random. A glitch called DKSMS can be used to remove the charge-up time for this modification.

Upgrades

Precision Bolt

Energy Efficient

Decreases recharge time.

Cost: 3 / 6 weapon points

Light Weight

Increased movement speed while zoomed in.

Cost: 3 / 6 weapon points

Mastery - Volatile Discharge

Unlocked by killing five Hell knights with headshots. Enemies killed with the precision bolt will explode.

Siege Mode

Outer Beam

Increases the area-of-effect damage for siege mode shots.

Cost: 3 / 6 weapon points

Reduced Charge

Decreases charging time.

Cost: 3 / 6 weapon points

Mastery - Mobile Siege

Unlocked by killing at least three enemies 10 times with Siege Mode. Enables movement while charging.

Sequence breaking

The Gauss cannon has proven exceptionally useful for sequence breaking in the game due to its large amount of thrust imparted on the player enabling vast jumps of unintended height and horizontal distance which can clear walls and push the player through small holes in the levels' collision meshes. If fired backward, the effect can be exaggerated even further, as the velocity it imparts will be added to the player's existing backward momentum. This has been exploited extensively in world record speedruns.

Pre-release

• The development name for the Precision Bolt was the Charged Sniper mod.

In other games

Mighty Doom

Gauss cannon in Mighty Doom

The Gauss cannon appeared in the most recent mobile Doom game, Mighty Doom. As an equippable secondary weapon, and one of the strongest, it has similar behavior with its counterpart from Doom (2016), shooting a steel flechette at speeds high enough to pierce enemies. Due to the fact that it belongs to the secondary weapon category, after using it, the weapon has a 10 second cooldown between uses. The legendary Gauss cannon recharges 5% faster. By default, it inflicts extra damage to enemies with weaknesses to kinetic, and toxic if the player obtains one of the upgrades.

Upgrades:

• Bounce: Projectiles bounce off walls.
• Magnetic acceleration: Shots pierce through additional enemies.
• Lead poisoning: Adds toxic damage and a chance to weaken enemy defense.
• Multishot: Fires an extra set of projectiles.

Trivia

• The Precision Bolt returned in Doom Eternal as a mod for the heavy cannon and works similarly (there is no charging performed), but the upgrades and mastery are completely different.
• In Mighty Doom, there was a Quake II railgun skin for this weapon.
• Argon is extremely easy to turn into a plasma. However, being a noble gas, it does not readily react with other substances (in fact, its name is Greek for "lazy"). It is inaccurate, therefore, to refer to it as "volatile."