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The Shard Gun is a weapon manufactured by Gadgetron in Secret Agent Clank. It is a combat shotgun used by Ratchet that fires ice shards, and achieves freezing power through quantum-tunneled heat sink into nearby deep space. The weapon damages enemies as well as slowing their reaction time and move speeds.

The Shard Gun is found by Ratchet in Max-Security Cells challenges in the Prison Planet. It can be upgraded up to the Shard Cannon at V4. Two mods can be obtained for the weapon: the Charge-Up Mod gained by completing "No Shelter", which allows the player to hold the fire button and release it for a larger blast consisting of multiple shots, and the Ice Halo Mod for 10,000 bolts that creates a ring of ice around the player when the gun is fired to damage enemies in close proximity. In challenge mode, the Titan Shard Cannon can be purchased.

Characteristics[]

The Shard Gun is a long, cyan-colored shotgun with some minor green and silver highlights. It features a scope at the top, and the gun's barrel is surrounded by small cylinders. The scope on the Shard Cannon is made even wider, with extra tubing added to both the scope and the muzzle.

Gameplay[]

Shard Gun gameplay

Shard Gun gameplay.

The Shard Gun is a shotgun which fires ice shards at enemies. These ice shards damage enemies as well as slowing them, allowing the weapon to double up as a strategic weapon. It can be fired to slow down medium to large enemies and allow Ratchet to focus on other targets, or to simply eliminate smaller enemies, making it broadly useful. While the damage of the weapon is outclassed later by other weapons, the utility of slowing enemies can remain useful.

The Shard Gun can upgrade to the Shard Cannon, which only features an increase in damage, range, and spread, effectively retaining its original function as being effective in crowd control.

Two mods can be obtained for the weapon: the Charge-Up Mod which is acquired by completing "No Shelter" in Max-Security Cells, and the Ice Halo Mod that is purchased for 10,000 bolts. The Ice Halo Mod makes the weapon more defensive by creating a (small) ring of frost around the weapon that slows down nearby enemies, while the Charge-Up Mod allows the blast to be charged up and fired to deal more damage. The weapon with both upgrades is still best used to slow down larger enemies rather than aimed at smaller enemies, but can serve both purposes. The Charge-Up Mod will consume ammo while charging, with the Shard Cannon being able to charge up to three times as much.

Behind the scenes[]

Shard Gun cake promo render

The Shard Gun was originally acquired through different means rather than finding it on the prison floor. There is a promotional render for the Shard Gun cake within the game's presskit, and the game disc itself still contains a cutscene in which the warden says that he thinks it looks like a "bunny rabbit."[1]

Notes[]

  1. Ammo crates contain one more ammo charge per level, up to 10 at Titan V1, after which it goes back down by one permanently.

Citations[]

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