Quake:
Artifacts
Abbreviation: Quad.
AKA: "oh shit!"
Classification: Powerup.
Effect: All damage dealt by beholder is multiplied by a factor of 4. Beholder glows unholy blue/bright, sounds when powerup is picked up, wears off, or weapon fires.
Duration: 30 seconds.
Respawn: 30 seconds after either (a) its used up, or (b) the beholder is killed (without dropquad).
23/8 - I can't believe I forgot to add the basic info. Why didn't anybody tell me :p.
The most infamous powerup in Quake, the Quad Damage allows the beholder to deal copious amounts of animated damage to opponents (see gib). True to its name, it simply allows multiplies the damage done by a player by a factor of four. Quite a significant improvement. It is identifiable as the blue Q in the quake-style logo.
Known in shortform as quad, it has gained massive notoriety as a unbalancer simply because with it, its very, very easy to kill people. Don't believe me? Let's put it into perspective:
One axe hit - 80 damage. But why use axe when you have the...
Shotgun - 16 damage per pellet, 6 pellets for maximum 96.
Super Shotgun - 16 damage per pellet, 14 pellets for maximum 224.
Nailgun - 36 damage per nail @ 5 nails per second.
Super Nailgun - 72 damage per nail @ 5 nails per second.
Grenade Launcher/Rocket Launcher - direct hit, 480 whopping points of pain. I don't care if your Mr.T - bar Pentagram of Protection, nobody survives that.
Splash damage - at a minimum of 160 damage that ain't half bad either.
Lightning gun - 160 damage per cell, @ 10 cells per second. Thank god you can't shoot dead people or it'd be like those crazy streetfighter games.
Quad also makes the simultaneous dispatching of multiple victims far easier. Sometimes you can undergo quadgasm:
One's loss of dignity when one comes into posession of the Quad Damage artifact.
If you're on a crowded level, then quad damage, a rocket launcher, and a backpack full of rockets can add up to one of the most pleasurable experiences you can have with your clothes on. You can almost see Honor flying out the window when someone picks up this kind of Gib Kit.
On levels with lots of rockets and multiple Quads, you can have "Multiple Quadgasms".
Warning: illegal in 12 states.
--- Quake Weenie Tactics Site - http://www.weenie.com/quake, Accessed 18th August 2000.
Quad is generally accepted in deathmatch, although it can be extremely unpopular and excessive use of it earns the title of quad whore/pimp/slut. Regardless, many people still make an effort to respawn camp it, which, for the most part, is a very worthwhile investment.
In duel quad is disabled as it contradicts the concepts of the duel.
In sub-professional level teamplay, you are expected to camp the quad - if you can. It is often the focus of a match, and its possession can often be correlated with winning
Although a few zealots argue that four is just right, most people agree that a factor of four is just way too excessive. That's why in Quake 3, the quad is actually triple damage.
Part of the Quake metanode