Short Circuit

From Team Fortress Wiki
Revision as of 20:19, 4 January 2014 by Shadowcon66 (talk | contribs) (Bugs: Bug is invalid due to user testing bearing results: does not destroy beach balls/soccer balls anymore.)
Jump to: navigation, search
That wasn't even close.
The Engineer destroying projectiles

The Short Circuit is a promotional secondary weapon for the Engineer. It is a futuristic electrical device consisting of two probes and rubber sealing, that replaces the Engineer's right arm.

This weapon fires a burst of electrical energy that destroys enemy projectiles within a 75 degree radius at the expense of 5 metal. If the player has less than 5 metal and fires, the remaining metal will be consumed. It also does very minor damage to enemies within the area of effect. The weapon's electrical arcs are capable of hitting both multiple enemies and multiple projectiles in a single shot, but do not hit cloaked Spies. Although unable to operate underwater or deal critical hits through any means, the Short Circuit does not require reloading and instead draws ammunition directly from the Engineer's metal supply.

Enemies killed by the Short Circuit suffer a distinctive death by vaporization: they turn black, hover in mid-air while performing a specific disintegration animation surrounded by team-colored particles, and then disappear into ashes.

This item was awarded in Genuine quality to players who pre-ordered Deus Ex: Human Revolution before August 26, 2011.

The kill icon for the Short Circuit was contributed by Template:Steam profile link.

Damage and function times

See also: Damage
Damage and function times
Shot type Area of Effect
Damage
Base damage 100% 5
Point blank 4-6
Mini-crit 5-8
Function times
Attack interval 0.15 s
Values are approximate and determined by community testing.

Demonstration

Crafting

See also: Crafting

Blueprint

Reclaimed Metal Scrap Metal Gunslinger Short Circuit
Item icon Reclaimed Metal.png + Item icon Scrap Metal.png + Item icon Gunslinger.png = Item icon Short Circuit.png
Class Token - Engineer Slot Token - Secondary Scrap Metal Possible Results
Item icon Class Token - Engineer.png + Item icon Slot Token - Secondary.png + Item icon Scrap Metal.png =
Item icon Wrangler.png Item icon Short Circuit.png

As a crafting ingredient

Reclaimed Metal Righteous Bison Short Circuit Pomson 6000
Item icon Reclaimed Metal.png + Item icon Righteous Bison.png + Item icon Short Circuit.png = Item icon Pomson 6000.png

Related achievements

Leaderboard class engineer.png Engineer

How the Pests Was Gunned
How the Pests Was Gunned
Destroy 50 enemy stickybombs lying in range of friendly buildings.

Update history

August 18, 2011 Patch (Manno-Technology Bundle)

  • The Short Circuit was added to the game.

August 23, 2011 Patch

  • Fixed the Short Circuit attacking friendly projectiles.
  • Fixed the Short Circuit being hidden when the Engineer taunts.

January 11, 2012 Patch

  • [Undocumented] This item was added to the crafting blueprint for the Pomson 6000.

February 9, 2012 Patch

  • [Undocumented] The Short Circuit now makes robotic noises when moved around in the backpack.

April 17, 2012 Patch

  • Fixed projectiles not being cleared if they were blocked by buildings or other projectiles.
  • Fixed not incrementing the "How the Pests Was Gunned" achievement for destroyed stickies.

July 10, 2013 Patch

  • Changed attributes:
    • Ammo cost reduced when an attack destroys a projectile.
    • Ammo cost of firing reduced to -18 metal.
    • [Undocumented] Ammo cost increased to -36 metal when an attack does not destroy a projectile or hit a player.
    • [Undocumented] Increased firing speed by +25%.
  • [Undocumented] The weapon's muzzle now emits a spark effect when fired.
  • [Undocumented] Fixed attack arcing to nearby teammates as if they were enemies.

July 12, 2013 Patch

  • Updated the Short Circuit description to match the updated gameplay.

November 12, 2013 Patch

December 20, 2013 Patch

  • Changed attributes:
    • Attack speed up greatly.
    • Ammunition cost has been lowered to 5 metal per attack.
    • Players and Buildings are only targeted if in range and in front of attacking player.
  • Improved visual effects.

Bugs

  • If the player is killed while firing the Short Circuit, the particle effects will persist in the player's client through the respawn process, until the user changes teams.

Trivia

  • During development, the Short Circuit was going to be a minigun that opened up from Engineer's glove. Valve, however, told the creator they wanted a less-powerful electric based weapon, so it was changed to the current design.[1]
  • A short circuit is a malfunction in a circuit that allows a current to travel on an unintended path.
  • The filenames for this weapon's sounds within the VPK files reference Lawrence Barrett, a character from the Deus Ex: Human Revolution title known for his gun-arm.

Gallery

References

See also