Phase Rifle

Phase Rifle

The Phase Rifle is an unlockable primary weapon for the Sentinel class. Its current pricing is 780GP or 170.000XP.

It holds 4 rounds, 5 upgraded, and when fully upgraded spawns with 1 full clip and 32 remaining ammo.

Its upgrade structure is identical to that of the BXT1.

The Phase Rifle is a sniper weapon similar to the BXT1, although it has slightly altered firing mechanics. It can fire from the hip without damage reduction, and does not have any penalties induced by hipfire except the unavoidable loss in accuracy and zoom level. Its scope has two zoom levels identical to those of the BXT1. The damage of the Phase Rifle is determined by the amount of energy the player has available when firing.

It deals up to 510 damage at 100 energy, any energy beyond 100 does not add more damage. Each shot will drain 90 energy. If the trigger is held down to engage the automatic fire, the damage output will stay on the damage niveau of the initiating shot, even though the energy used to shoot is gone. This means that with a fully upgraded Phase Rifle, a player can deal a total amount of 2.550 damage from one magazine. If all shots hit, this is enough to kill any non-upgraded enemy in the game.

The weapon does not damage vehicles and base turrets, but will damage player turrets and force fields.

It has total accuracy, but there appears to be a slight delay on the fire, so aiming minimally in front of your enemy or tracking him with the aimpoint it recommended.

Recommended Perk/Secondary choices

note: I'm accounting these tips from my personal experience with the weapon, facts stop now.

Since the additional energy provided by ultra capacitor doesn't add any amount of damage worth mentioning, this is the perk you should definitely NOT use with the phase rifle. Instead, choose the perks that suit your desired role in the match, none of them really benefit the phase rifle enough to warrant use over other, more efficient choices.

The falcon is a great sidearm for the phase rifle, as it allows you to quickly finish off any injured enemies that are in medium to close range, while you would otherwise have to either reload your phase rifle or use the nova blaster.

Using the phase rifle will require some getting used to for most players, so it is recommended to try it first, if possible, before spending the large amount of XP or GP needed to buy it. When in combat, you will want to always auto-fire, as you will otherwise sacrifice a great deal of damage for nothing more but an opportunity to hit more precisely, or ammo conservation. You should treat any shot that does not deal at least 350 damage as a wasted one, and in a firefight, or a defense situation, wasting ammo can be fatal. The Phase Rifle boasts a considerable flexibility compared to the BXT1, seeing as it can fire from the hip, and is thus way more useful in indoor spaces and close quarter encounters. While the BXT1 would restrict you to a more stationary position, or slower movement, you can move more freely and a lot faster with the Phase Rifle, making it viable in situations that seem unfitting for a Sentinel at first, such as flag chases and base attack. Using it to destroy forcefields and player turrets, something the Phase Rifle excels at, is a good way to soften up the enemy base for an incoming capper. Ultimately, you will have to experiment a lot when using this weapon to find a role that suits you as a Sentinel, whether it be stationary defense, midfield capper softening, aggressive tanking, or even base attack or heavy assassination.