Dark Star

The Dark Star aimed against Fixers

A overview The Dark Star.

The Dark Star was revealed in the Holiday issue of Nintendo Power. A trailer of the weapons showed that the weapon shoots small projectiles and a one shot projectile that becomes a black hole.

The first projectile is weak, but it attaches to the target, dealing more damage over time. For every kill with the small projectile attached to the enemy, the weapon will show one light on its side, eneabling the gun's alternate fire, the Dark Star mode, at Level 1. Once activated, the weapon opens up and the user can fire a potent projectile that becomes a black hole upon impact. This black hole is slow, but has powerful gravity force, atracting any nearby enemy, or even yourself to its center if too close, killing it instantly. Additionaly, after fired, the black hole seeks out targets automatically. Once the black hole is fired, the weapon resets back to zero level. Killing one more enemy with the weapon at level 1 will charge the Dark Star mode up to Level 2, killing one more will charge it at Level 3. Each level of charge allows for a bigger and more powerful black hole.

The black hole not only attracts enemies into it, it can also absorb projectiles, serving as a sort of shield as well.

Enemies don't have to be killed by the weak shot itself to power the weapon, as long as the targets dies while it has the energy ball from the shot attached to it, it will work. This can be achieved by using a different weapon, or even by a different player.[1]

The weapon is seen in Conduit 2 and is currently the only Atlantean Weapon found.

Strategy

Because the Dark Star's primary shots are very weak, it is very recommended to have a powerfull secondary or another primary weapon to do most of the kills and use the Dark Star only to tag enemies with it and to use its alternative fire. Also after firing the black hole, it is a good idea to stay as far away from it since it can target the user if it lands too close; this must be taken into consideration for teammates as well, because if the shot lands too close to them they might be sucked in along with your intended target.

The higher the charge, the bigger the black hole, the more destructive power has and the better its homing capabilities are, so it is recommended to level it up to level 3 if possible.

It is sometimes useful to shoot the dark star's black hole into an occupied sniper nest (such as on Whiteout) or other areas where a sniper may be hiding in order to easily get rid of any snipers that are a problem to you or your team.

Even after receiving the black hole, is a good idea to keep tagging enemies and then unload the black hole on them, and when they are killed by it you get another one. This way, it is possible to have the alt. fire always available. This is sometimes referred to as Dark Star 'chains' by players.

Being killed will reset the Dark Star charge's level back to zero no matter what level it is at or how long the charge was held before death.

Tapping the secondary fire button twice can speed up the opening and closing animations of the weapon's alt fire.

An effective and cheap strategy on multiplayer to use the upgrage "Ammo Salvage" and a Radiation Grenade (Optional Bomb Bag upgrade). simply tag the target player with the Darkstar then attach a Radiation Grenade to the same player, doing so will effectively render the target doomed to die and you are garrenteed a charge.

Conduit 2 Store Description

Cost: 60,000 Credits This ancient weapon fires a bizarre energy that adheres to targets it hits, inflicting damage over time. If a target dies while this energy is attached the weapon's alternate fire becomes available. This launches a singularity that will float torward viable targets and attempt to draw them in, destroying them utterly. Category: Energy

Conduit 2 Fact Sheet Description

This weapon seems extremely weak at first. It shoots small energy orbs that do very minor damage. However, this stick to targets dealing damage over time. Additionaly, any enemy killed be the Dark Star is converted into energy powering its mighty Dark Star Charge! When charged, the weapon emits a focalized black hole that sucks any nearby enemies into it, killing them instantly. Powering up The Dark Star to level 3, unleashes a massive charge with a huge radius!

• Clip Size - 12 Rounds
• Damage - shot= 5 - tag= 9 x4
• Dark Star Charge Damage - Infinite
• Secondary Fire - Toggle Dark Star Charge mode

[2]

Beneficial Suit Upgrades

• Energy Focus (Primary)
• Improved Energy Damage (Secondary C)
• (Note) These 2 upgrades only effect the Tag damage, not the shot itself.

Trivia

• This is the weapon that Michael Ford carries in the game's boxart.
• The Weapon's blueprint can be found on Atlantis' HUB after beating the game for the first time.
• The Dark Star is very similar to another weapon in a different game: the Dark Beam in Metroid Prime 2 Echoes. The Dark Beam's standard and charged shots are similar to the Dark Star's weakshots in that they attach to foes and do damage over time (the attach ability for the Dark Beam is esspecially noticable in Multiplayer mode, as the charged shot's splash will home in on targets, which is very usefull against players who move around much more). Furthermore, the Charge Combo of the Dark Beam (called the Darkburst) fires a miniture sphere of black-violet energy, which, on impact, explodes into a gigantic black hole that will kill anything in one shot.

Gallery

getting ready to fire the black hole