Template:Appearances The Blaster, also referred to as the Ion Blaster,[1] is a weapon manufactured by Gadgetron featured in Ratchet & Clank. It is a medium-ranged pistol with a high rate-of-fire which automatically targets enemies and deals minimal damage. It can be upgraded to the Gold Blaster.
History
Ratchet & Clank
The Blaster became available from a Gadgetron vendor as soon as Ratchet reached planet Kerwan, and costs 2,500 bolts. It later be upgraded to the Gold Blaster for 4 gold bolts and 20,000 bolts.
Secret Agent Clank
In Secret Agent Clank, Qwark would use his trusty blaster in his false re-tellings, the first time being his battle against the giant robot lizard. When charged, the Blaster temporarily became the Mega Blaster to fire a potent beam of energy.
Comic series
Ratchet uses his Blaster in the comic series
Ratchet's Blaster made an appearance during the first issue of the Ratchet & Clank comic series, in Ears of War. Ratchet used it to help defend Veldin from Zogg's robot mechs. After running out of ammo, Ratchet threw it at a robot in a futile attempt to inflict some harm. In this appearance, the Blaster was smaller and fired red blasts of energy, rather than the yellow balls as seen in the original game. When he broke out the Vartax Detention Facility, he utilized a second Blaster identical to his first one.
Characteristics
Ammo in Ratchet & Clank (2002).
The Blaster used by Ratchet is a large, black pistol with orange and red trim. It has a large, circular muzzle due to the large blasts fired. The ammunition fired is yellow, and appears to have similar particle effects to flames. Blaster ammunition is blue and cylindrical with a large black target icon on the front.
Combat
Ratchet fires the Blaster
The Blaster's nature allows it to be fired rapidly, at the expense of its ammunition, which is depleted very fast. Its damage is minimal, although this is often enough to easily defeat the weaker enemies in the game. Its high rate-of-fire also allows it to be more powerful and more cost-efficient against larger enemies. However, due to a lack of strafing in Ratchet & Clank, the Blaster is susceptible to missing the mark, and the player should make sure that an enemy is targeted. When upgraded to the Gold Blaster, the projectiles can ricochet off walls to hit enemies.
Though the Blaster is useful when it is acquired, it can be very quickly outclassed. The Pyrocitor, and later, the Tesla Claw, can easily outperform it at defeating smaller enemies quickly, while weapons such as the Devastator are always far more useful against larger enemies. This means that the Blaster has only a small window within the game's story in which it is the optimal weapon for its job, although it is still useful when other weapons run out of ammo.
When upgraded to the Gold Blaster, its rate-of-fire and damage are even higher, making it more useful until the Gold Tesla Claw is purchased.
Behind the scenes
The Blaster was referred to as the Bolt Blaster during the development of Ratchet & Clank.[2][3][4] Likewise, in early builds of the game, the bullets fired by the Blaster were bolts.[5]
The Blaster and the Gold Blaster are the only blasters in the series that used auto-targeting, as in the later games, it was mostly replaced by the HUD's targeting.
Other
In several Qwark vid-comics, Qwark would use a weapon called the Blaster, which fired powerful energy shots and could hold up to twenty or fifty ammo.
Captain Starshield used a blaster on Fractis to defeat several Cragmites, and also in combat against a Cantor shortly after helping the people of Calzon.
In Tools of Destruction and Quest for Booty, Corsair space pirates utilized blasters.
In Full Frontal Assault, Stuart Zurgo utilized a large modified blaster with his Qwark Mech. It shot a blaster beam that captured foes in an orange energy bubble, temporarily preventing them from escaping. He used it capture member(s) of the Q-Force when he fought Ratchet, Clank and Qwark.[6] After he captured Q-Force member(s), the blaster malfunctioned, causing Zurgo to throw it away and pull out an Omegatech Fission Blaster.
In Into the Nexus, the weapons used by Ranged Thugs and Jetpack Thugs were referred to as blasters; they fired similar yellow energy bursts, but looked different from the original Blaster.
References
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank (2016 game), Holocard description
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank. Gamers Pulse (archived). Accessed July 17, 2018.
- ↑ Gamers Pulse on Web Archive
- ↑ Ratchet and Clank. IGN. Accessed July 17, 2018.
- ↑ RC Lombax: Ratchet & Clank E3 Demo Differences. YouTube. Accessed July 17, 2018.
- ↑ The number of people captured when he uses it depends on whether the game is being played with a friend or ones-self and which characters were selected in either circumstances.