Lancer

The Lancer is a weapon manufactured by MegaCorp in Going Commando and Going Mobile it also appears in some cutscenes in Deadlocked. It is a long-range pistol with a decent rate of fire that fires explosive energy bolts to damage enemies.

In Going Commando the Lancer can be upgraded to the Heavy Lancer, a rifle that fires slightly weaker energy bolts but with a rapid rate of fire. When in challenge mode it can be further upgraded to the Mega Heavy Lancer. In Going Mobile the lancer can be upgraded to level three with use.

Going Commando
The Lancer was available as one of two default weapons for MegaCorp commandos, along with the Gravity Bomb. It could be upgraded to the Heavy Lancer by using the weapon. The Heavy Lancer was seen twice in the story. Firstly, it was used by Ratchet to free the experiment from the thief on Siberius; it was later used by Ratchet to free Angela Cross from the Giganto Mech.

In challenge mode, it could be upgraded to the Mega Heavy Lancer from any vendor.

Going Mobile
In the series 60 version Ratchet starts with the Lancer by default. In Going Mobile the Lancer's appearance is different and now looks more like the N60 Storm.

Characteristics
The Lancer is a silver metallic pistol with red decorations and a red trigger. Its nozzle and its barrel glow orange, the same color of the energy bolts the weapon fires. It features red and black wires from the back to the nozzle.

The Heavy Lancer appears wildly different. It is an assault rifle with a left-hand grip at the back and a longer circular nozzle. The orange energy highlights still appear on the weapon, though decorations are blue instead of red.

Going Commando
The Lancer initially begins with a medium rate of fire that does moderate damage to enemies. It can automatically target enemies, and is most easily used while strafing. It is a very versatile weapon that can be useful against any type of enemy. When upgraded to the Heavy Lancer, it deals slightly lower damage, but its rapid rate of fire makes it a more powerful weapon.

While the Lancer and Heavy Lancer begin as useful weapons, they are heavily outclassed as the game progresses (particularly around reaching Joba). The Heavy Lancer's damage does little to keep up with the more powerful enemies that the player will encounter later on, and it has very little utility. Therefore, it becomes redundant in the late stages of the game.

The shock mod and lock-on mod are available at Slim Cognito's platinum bolt weapon modifications shop. The shock mod shocks enemies close to those hit by the Lancer's blasts, while the lock-on mod locks onto a target when and  are held down simultaneously. While the lock-on mod is only a minor improvement, the shock mod can make the Lancer much more effective. However, in both cases, the Lancer is likely to have been outclassed by the time of purchasing these mods, so the player may choose to purchase mods for different weapons instead.

If the player solely uses the Lancer from the beginning of the game up to and including the Swamp Monster I boss on Oozla, it will be upgraded to the Heavy Lancer.

Going Mobile
"Fires weak rapid bursts."

- Weapon description

Initially the Lancer fires weak projectiles with a moderate rate of fire. When it is upgraded to level three it has an incredibly fast rate of fire. Allowing it to easily kill hordes of weaker enemies.

However the Lancer is outclassed by almost every other weapon in the game, with the only exception being the Circuit Jammer. Thus the Lancer is only useful for a very short time.

Behind the scenes
As seen in some beta versions of Going Commando and screenshots from the game, the Lancer's shots were originally colored either green or blue along with some parts of the weapon itself.

Curiously, the Heavy Lancer's model is used in cutscenes on Siberius and Snivelak, irrespective of whether the player has upgraded the Lancer by that point.

The Lancer's model was used in weapons in Deadlock. Captain Starshield seemed to have used a modified version of the Lancer when he was a gladiator in DreadZone. Later, Ratchet uses a lighter Lancer-looking weapon against Ace Hardlight in a cutscene.

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