"Ratchet" Match-It [2] Trivia Quiz

Answer: Zodiac

The Zodiac really is the most expensive weapon in the game. However, it's not necessarily the best. That said, in certain situations, it could be very useful indeed. The Zodiac works by disintegrating every single enemy currently on the screen. A bolt of electrical energy extends out from this arm-mounted weapon and zaps all enemies in your view.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work as well on bosses (that would be an easy Protopet kill, wouldn't it?) and its high cost to buy and refill doesn't really make it stand out as a must-have weapon in your arsenal, particularly as it only becomes available after completing the game once and entering challenge mode, by which time you'll probably have most weapons fully upgraded anyway that will do much the same job for a fraction of the cost.

Answer: Blitz Gun

The Blitz Gun, both in its normal form and as the upgraded Blitz Cannon, is a great weapon for keeping enemeis at bay. This shotgun fires a spray of shots outwards and is obviously less effective against enemies that are further away. Ordinarily, it doesn't target enemies, so you just need to point it in their general direction and fire away (though the Lock-On mod from Slim Cognito is available if you want some optional precision targeting).

Answer: Synthenoid

The beauty of the Synthenoid is that it produces four droids that hover above you and follow you, shooting at any enemies that are unfortunate enough to be within range. This includes any enemies that are off-screen (such as behind the camera) that you may not have spotted yet.

Their duration isn't infinite, unfortunately, and once they run out of ammo, they'll disappear. Still, the Synthenoid, and its upgraded Kilonoid, are pretty much staples of any Quick Select loadout from the get-go, after reaching Notak for the first time.

Answer: Pulse Rifle

Where the previous game had a suspicious lack of sniper rifles, "Ratchet & Clank 2" seeks to rectify this in the form of the Pulse Rifle. This long-range rifle functions pretty much as you'd expected, including a zoomable scope for picking off enemies in the distance.

It's available early on on Endako for a paltry 20,000 bolts and upgrades to the Vaporizer after continued use. If you have excess platinum bolts that are just burning a hole in your pocket, you'll find that Slim Cognito only has the one mod available for the Pulse Rifle/Vaporizer - the Shock mod.

Answer: Chopper

The arm-mounted Chopper produces stars with razor-sharp edges that you can fling at the baddies. Once they make contact, they'll ricochet off and come back around for another go or two. The Multi-Star upgrade functions similarly, but the stars split into two separate stars upon their first impact, resulting in twice as much carnage for half the ammo cost. Both versions of the weapon are great against densely-packed enemies in confined spaces - the quicker the stars can ricochet off a surface, the quicker they can come back around and seek out their target again.

Answer: Shield Charger

The Shield Charger generates a spherical electric shield around you, zapping enemies who try and touch you (or who you try to touch). It can also protect against some incoming fire, though its durability is limited and it will deactivate once it has taken enough hits.

Its upgraded form, the Tesla Barrier, functions in much the same way, with the addition of lightning strikes that hit enemies from a distance (but you still need to get fairly close for it to detect them).

Answer: Plasma Coil

The Plasma Coil is definitely one of those weapons you're going to want to upgrade early. In its early stages, the Plasma Coil fires out a single plasma orb towards your target, shocking them and maybe a couple of nearby friends before it disappears. Fairly standard stuff, really.

However, once you use this weapon enough and it upgrades to the Plasma Storm, you've got yourself one seriously useful gun. The Plasma Storm sends out a ball of plasma (not unlike one of those globes you can stick your hands on and watch the filaments 'touch' you), but it doesn't go to one target in particular.

Instead, it just fires in a straight line and zaps anyone nearby, doing some decent damage too. It's quite useful in dense groups of enemies where it can hit all of them.

Answer: Bouncer

As its name suggests, the Bouncer produces a large bomb which explodes upon contact with an enemy (or after a period of time if it hasn't reached anyone). This produces a set of smaller, bouncing bombs that are drawn to enemies, also exploding on contact.

This makes it quite a powerful weapon, as all you have to do is point it in the vague direction of the bad guys, pull the trigger and wait for the fireworks to start.

Answer: Seeker Gun

The Seeker Gun shines against single enemies but isn't so great against groups. Firing off a Seeker drone sends it flying forward until it comes in range of an enemy. It'll then pause briefly, aim towards its target, and fly into it at high speed. Continuing to use it will eventually cause it to upgrade to the HK22 Gun, which sends out three drones at once for more potential damage.

This is great for hitting enemies behind cover while you stay safe behind your own.

Answer: RYNO II

Given that bolts are easier to come by than in the previous game, the journey to 1 million bolts to obtain the RYNO II is a piece of cake. Obtained from the ruins of the Gadgetron site on planet Barlow (from the same vendor from which you can buy the even-more-expensive-but-actually-less-useful Zodiac), the RYNO II boasts superior firepower over the rest of your arsenal, sending rapid-fire missiles at any targeted enemy or object.