Zeus Rifle

From Hellgatewiki.com

Named for the Greek god of sky and weather, this weapon would do the supreme ruler of Olympus proud. Discharging a multitude of electrical orbs that split and move in erratic patterns make it a difficult weapon to precisely aim, but also makes it nearly impossible for enemies to dodge. The Zeus Rifle is highly effective at dispersing large groups of demons and is commonly used when fighting in open, outdoor locales.

Name: Zeus Rifle
Type: Rifle (two-handed)
Damage Type: Electrical (direct)
Max Mod Slots: 2 Battery, 2 Tech

• See screenshots of the Zeus Rifle in our image gallery.

There are two issues with what the official Hellgate: London page says about this weapon. The first is in the italicized quotation atop this page. It's not clear what weapon they're talking about in the projectile description, (Tempest Rifle, perhaps?) but it's clearly not the Zeus Rife. This gun does not fire electrical orbs; it shoots a beam of lightning that locks on and jumps from target to target. It's essentially a chain lightning gun, and it's been seen functioning the same way since the earliest days of Hellgate: London.

... a Zeus Rifle that acts as a chain lightning gun...
--IGN Preview, May 2005

Secondly, the name is less than inspired. This weapon was initially named "The Lasher", then changed to "Arc Lasher," and while the "Zeus" part of the new name is spiffy, why "rifle?" It's a beam weapon, and there are any number electrical or mythological names far superior to "rifle." Zeus' Charger. Zeus' Coil. Zeus' Fury. Zeus' Fist. And so on.

The Zeus Rifle was mentioned in a designer diary about the physics of the game. The fact that the names change constantly is a common theme as well.

In fact, I have changed the HARP's laser particle so that it bends, and I show him how I did it. Now he can make it look better than my weak programmer art. So, now the HARP's laser bends, but more importantly we have a way to bend any of our laser weapons. Since I changed the tools as I wrote this, it was pretty easy to make the Incinerator Ray and the Arc Lasher bend their lasers. (Now for a quick aside: As I've been describing the process here, I've been mentioning the name of several weapons, monsters and skills. Please realize that these are the Development Names. At some point in the process someone will come up with a better name for the Arc Lasher - I think that Zeus Rifle is the current favorite. This Release Name is what users will see in the game. However, we keep changing our mind on the Release Names. This week is it Zeus Rifle, but next week it might be Lightning Arc Machine or Zapper. I can't keep up with all of these changes. It gets really confusing. So, I just stick to calling things by their Development Name.)
--Tyler Thompson, Developer Diary, September 29, 2005

It's a fun gun no matter what they call it, and while the beam has never been seen bending to more than two targets, it's possible there might be powerups or higher level versions of the weapon that would let you really chain that lightning.

Item Navigation
Weapons & Shields	Armor	Mods	Other
Melee Weapons Swords Ranged Weapons Focus Items Pistols Rifles Shields	Belts Boots Gloves Helmets Leg Armor Shoulder Armor Torso Armor	Ammo Mods Battery Mods Fuel Mods Relic Mods Rocket Mods Tech Mods	Crafting & Upgrades Consumables Dye Kits Inventory Modifiers (not mods) Palladium (Gold)

Weapon Navigation
Melee Weapons	Broadsword . Cinderspike . Corrupt Blade . Cricket Bat . Firebrand . Fishgutter . Flame Column . Katana . Molten Edge . Muramasa Katana . Negotiator . Odachi . Phantasmic Reaper . Righteous Star . Shatter Scythe . Shock Blade . Tri-Sword . Wardcleaver . Weed Whacker
One-Handed Guns	Arc Jumper . Beetlebore . Blaze Pistol . Firestarter . Flamewave . Grappler . Grenadier . Harp Pistol . Redeemer . Plagueblaster . Rebounder . Scorcher . Shockwave . Spike Bolter . Vulcan Bolter
Rifle Weapons	Blightcaster . Boneshredder . Cluster Rifle . Dragonfly Gun . Electric Eel Ejector . Firefly . Harp Rifle . Locust Hive . Orange Tube Rifle . Plaguethrower . Plasmathrower . Scarab Gun . Slicer . Sniper Rifle . Spark Rifle . Tempest Rifle . Templar Grenade Launcher . Trident Launcher . Zeus Rifle
Cabalist Weapons	Focus Items: . Axis . Core . Lens . Locus . Prism . Radiant Non-focus items:Tempest Rifle
Hunter Weapons	Sniper Rifle
Templar Weapons	Broadsword . Cinderspike . Corrupt Blade . Cricket Bat . Firebrand . Fishgutter . Flame Column . Grappler . Katana . Molten Edge . Muramasa Katana . Negotiator . Odachi . Phantasmic Reaper . Redeemer . Righteous Star . Shatter Scythe . Shock Blade . Spike Bolter . Lightning Sword . Wardcleaver