Lightning Gun

The lightning gun is a long range weapon that fires lightning bolts at it's target. It replaced the Sniper Rifle in UT2003.

Unreal Tournament 2003
Primary fire launches an instant-hit lightning bolt with perfect accuracy. Secondary fire zooms. The weapon deals double damage upon a headshot, enough to kill an unshielded opponent. The weapon's zooming ability and perfect accuracy make it suitable for sniping, but the bright lightning bolt will always give away the snipers position. Of all weapons in UT2003, the lightning gun has the longest recharge time between shots, but other weapons can still be fired while the weapon is recharging. Maximum ammo capacity is 40 charges.

Unreal Tournament 2004
''The Lightning Gun is a high-power energy rifle capable of ablating even the heaviest carapace armor. Acquisition of a target at long range requires a steady hand, but the anti-jitter effect of the optical system reduces the weapon’s learning curve significantly. Once the target has been acquired, the operator depresses the trigger, painting a proton ‘patch’ on the target. Milliseconds later the rifle emits a high voltage arc of electricity, which seeks out the charge differential and annihilates the target.''

The lightning gun is nearly unchanged in UT2004. The main difference is that the recharge time is reduced. Compared to the sniper rifle that was re-introduced in UT2004, the lightning gun still has a longer reload time but deals slightly more damage per shot and takes less time to switch to/from.