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The Shock Blaster is a weapon manufactured by Gadgetron in Up Your Arsenal. It is a close-to-medium range semi-automatic shotgun which fires blasts of energy and has a wide area of effect.

The Shock Blaster is given to Ratchet for free on Veldin by the Galactic Rangers, during "Save Veldin!". It can be upgraded to the Shock Cannon with use. Upon reaching challenge mode, it can be upgraded to the Mega Shock Blaster for 420,000 bolts.

The Shock Blaster was referenced by name in a Courtney Gears album titled Oops, I Got Vaporized By A Level 7 Shock Blaster!.[1]

Characteristics[]

The Shock Blaster is a short, dark blue shotgun with silver highlights, a glowing scope, and a left-hand grip. The Shock Cannon is longer, with a much wider nozzle, and more metallic highlights. It fires a wide blast of energy at targets, and when charging up, emits energy around the weapon.

Gameplay[]

Shock Blaster gameplay

Ratchet using the Shock Blaster.

The Shock Blaster deals damage in a wide radius in front of Ratchet, dealing damage the closer he is to the enemy, but significantly less near the maximum range. It is therefore most useful against large mobs of small enemies, such as one-eyed tyhrranoids and Floranian blood flies. Against larger enemies, it is initially less effective unless charged up (which is possible at V2). As it is an early weapon, the Shock Blaster is rather weak in terms of power, and does not gain much either. Thus it becomes quickly outclassed later on by much more powerful weapons which are more versatile in terms of defeating both clusters and armored enemies, such as the N60 Storm, Suck Cannon, and Spitting Hydra. Only its charge attack is capable of keeping up at this point.

The Shock Blaster improves in versatility with upgrades. At V2, it is possible to charge the weapon up by holding down the fire button, releasing a more focused blast dealing greater damage, which makes it far more useful against larger enemies. At V3, it can lock onto enemies. At V4, it can affect enemies close to those hit with electricity, improving its use against large mobs of enemies. At V5, as the Shock Cannon, it is far more deadly, and can be charged up for an even greater and more focused blast, at the cost of ten ammo per charged shot, although it can still be charged with less than ten ammo remaining.

The Shock Cannon can also be used to defeat multiple enemies with one charged shot, by turning Ratchet around the moment he fires it. This will cause the charged beam, which lasts for a split second, to be swept across the floor, dealing very high, and, in some cases, fatal, damage to anything it touches. This method is largely the only way to effectively use its secondary ability, as it is otherwise generally too ammo intensive and too powerful to be truly useful against the majority of enemies encountered. Additionally, this can only be properly used on large flat areas with no obstacles for the beam itself.

Citations[]

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