Quad Damage (Q3)

 

In Quake III Arena, the Quad Damage Powerup only multiplies damage by three, making it less powerful than its forefathers. Initial spawn time is around 45 to 50 seconds depending on the map, respawn time is 2 minutes after being picked up.

It appears in most levels in Quake 3, sometimes hidden away, and is greatly sought after by both bots and players alike. When picked up, the player is surrounded by a blue glowing hue, making them easily spotted by other players. Because of how powerful it is, Quad Damage is the most sought-after Powerup in Quake III, so run for it before someone else gets it!

The damage value can be modified by /g_quadfactor in the console. The default is 3 so if the player types in /g_quadfactor 100, the weapons damage will be multiplied 100 times when the Quad Damage is being held. In the same way, if the player types in /g_quadfactor 0 for example, his/her weapons will not do any damage at all.

In Team games, the player glows the color of their respective team. When they are killed, the Quad Damage will disappear instead of being dropped for the next person to pick up.

Strategy

• Quad Damage is a highly valued power-up in common multiplayer so it'll be a hotly contested area. Everyone will await the timer to tick to have a go at it. If you don't have high armor stacks in your favor, going to Quad spawn area without any sort of protection as time comes close may only shorten your average lifespan. You'll be prioritized and only the stack holder can bear to survive a focus fire.
• Most games Quad holder will have high stacks but in a crowded match that also ensures that they'll lose some before they lay a hand on the Quad Damage. If match is not crowded, odds are in favor of the stack holder leaving the area unscathed but whenever things get into a cluster of stray fire chances that they'll be in need of a quick recovery or regain control of their restock route.
• When Quad spawn placed on somewhere up high for bearer to get a quick escape without getting noted by many, there will also be an environmental hazard nearby. At most official maps, you'll observe exits from the Quad spawn area are also very plausible for an ambush if it spawns on low ground. As Quad bearer may have to go through claustrophobic areas, risking to get past a Railgun sight gap or run through a pitted area lacking depth to leave.
• Because of blue hue even visible through walls, Quad bearer must stay high and distanced away from plain sight to safely pick targets. Outer skirts of the map or above choking turns are mostly good spots to get a drop on stackholders or watch Megahealth and Heavy Armor spawns. If you have the Quad and stay low, chances are you'll get focus fired and smeared onto the dirt.
• In a crowded match if you find the Quad Damage spawn area rather silent chances are; either a kill streaker got ambushed badly a moment ago and everyone fighting for other items, or you have a sniper watching over the area already. You may try to abuse teleporters to get a drop on key opponents whenever you anticipate an important item spawn to disrupt them. If silence is disturbing, you may try to visit side flanks of Quad Damage area where ever it applies.
• When you have no stacks but still wanna deny the Quad bearer somewhat, try to time it perfectly or try to have a drop on the area by rocket jumping behind a cover or lower ground. Care to plan a evacuation route to the nearest teleporter when you try such reckless move. It doesn't worth getting killed over and over just for one power-up so trying to take out the bearer once he's weakened would be smarter.
• When you are concerned about the pressuring the stacks of the Quad bearer, you may chose a rapid fire weapon and head to position yourself at a high porch just to weaken and slow them as Quad spawn time nears. The moment stack holder endured the assault and grabbed the Quad damage however, it's time to backtrack or bail by dropping behind a cover. Safest approach is having GL with you to deny their chase.
• If you failed at keeping down the stack holder on the map, denying health orbs near open areas leading to Quad by self splash damage may help you to funnel bearer to certain chokes or hotly contested areas where they risk their stack further. You don't want Quad bearer to die before you have a chance to take it down, but funnelling them at enclosed spaces may ensure they'll at least hurt themselves in combat.

Trivia

• High tournament play of Quake 3 frowns on imbalanced and crucial power-ups that grant massive advantage and removes as such from maps, interchanging their spawn with other pickups. At Quad Damage's case, it can be important high grade pickups like Megahealth as seen in pro version of Q3DM6 or a simple health bubble as seen in pro variation of Q3DM13.

Gallery

Quake III Quad Damage