Gauntlet (Q3)

   

Gauntlet
Production information
Type	Melee
Technical specifications
Damage Per Hit	50 per slice
Fire Mode	Automatic
Operation	Slicing and knockback
Rate of Fire	Single slice every 400 milliseconds (0.4 sec)
Range	Melee range of 32 units
Usage
Era(s)	Quake 3 Arena Quake Live
[Source]

In Quake 3 Arena, Quake Live, and Quake Champions multiplayer, the Gauntlet or the Pummel is a circular-saw melee weapon with a small taser mechanism under it. With the Machine Gun, is one of the weapons a player has when he/she spawns in.

If somebody is killed with it, the player will be awarded with a medal and announcer denounces the victim with "Humiliation!". Shoving an enemy back with a Gauntlet hit away from a power-up without scoring a kill, will not grant any medal but a clear "Denied!" announce can be heard. Upon a kill scored by Gauntlet, game feedback reads as "Visor pummeled by Major's Gauntlet.".

Strategies

• Being an unique type weapon, Gauntlet generates invisible short ranged bullets to hit detect. Gauntlet once contacts it deals 50 damage then knocks away the victim, without adding extra damage. That ability would be useful to keep the close enemies away from the pickups you're about to take and "deny" them. At the other hand it tosses them away from you so you lose your chance to make a second contact under a second.
• In an active combat, you'll have loads of chances of poking foes away from you at the narrow gates leading in or out of choke holds. Knowing where chaos rises in a crowded match is one of the key points of using Gauntlet effectively. Some weapons can't keep up with the high damage output of the Gauntlet or the close-range effect of it when foe is shoved in a wall or bearer keeps slashing with twitches to not knockback the unaware target away.
• It isn't just a weapon for if you run out of ammo, if you snuck up or bumped someone in melee range at a gate or corner, you can cause some major pain. Hug the corner near a narrow corridor and diagonally run up to it when you hear someone coming, wall collision will give you a slight speed boost and a twitching slice will get anyone walking closeby.
• Considering the high rate of fire and damage output, this weapon can be more useful than it seems. If you encounter a group of players fighting in close quarters and you have height advantage, it may be worth your while to pull out the Gauntlet and dive into the fray. It is better if your foes don't see you before you attack, so you need to jump out from a cover or drop on them from above.
• If you have to use the Gauntlet as a real weapon, try to surprise the enemy by hitting them in the back. Ambush your enemies from the corners, from the side or when they're distracted. Crouch and walk around corners or important pickups to catch unaware players who are distracted by noises, combat or pickups infront of them. Rushing them plainly from the front will most likely get you killed.
• Seek height advantage to drop on foes or wait around corners to listen footsteps to suckerpunch someone. Lightning Gun and Railgun emit low buzz and abyssal humming sounds, listen for them. In the same manner it's also quite clever to hide their humming when standing in a corner by switching to Gauntlet or whizzing it for a little while to switch back to them. Audial cues like footsteps, weapon humming or jumps give great ideas about enemy positioning before entering an area.
• The Gauntlet is the weapon to humiliate somebody with! If you've managed to take off a lot of somebody's health, but they haven't died, run up to them and kill them with it. To be safe; use a rapid fire weapon and be sure opponent recently shown a sign of pain state (slow pitched grunt heard), else be sure he's cornered after an airjuggle before going in for the melee hit in a small time span.
• A tricky strategy is to use the Rocket Launcher to bounce an enemy directly into your Gauntlet. A variation of this strategy is to use the knockback of your Rocket Launcher to get them into a corner, where the Gauntlet excels.
• Rocket Jump! Use rocket jumps behind covers to send you flying at high speed, allowing a perfect opportunity to pull out your gauntlet within' airsteering and not only humiliate your opponent, humiliate them at the speed of sound.
• In a heated up fight between more than two players you'll have lots of opportunity to surf rocket blasts to the head top of other foes or jump at the head of them in a hurry. If you are standing above an opponent's head and they aren't aware, give them a warm welcome to the world of pain with your Gauntlet.
• Counter-jumps in one on one combat is possible when you're at slightly lower ground like end of the stairs or hugging a wall. However that's a risky endeavour because you can't measure the damage you'd take from the blast at all when you're a high priority target. Having higher ground to get a drop on enemy is a safer way to approach the situation.
• When you got the low ammo warning in the combat, consider switching to Gauntlet behind a cover or higher ground quickly to save ammo in case you can kill the cornered opponent. You never know when you might run out of ammo and having an unexpected weapon switch leaving you vulnerable.
• If you see somebody with the Gauntlet and you are being targeted, run away and fire at them. As long as you're moving away from them, it'll be difficult for them to get up to you and attack. Be careful not to back into a wall though; if you do, you're dead meat.
• If you have a Shotgun, you should never need the Gauntlet. Yet it's good to remember their use of approach is pretty similar; gates, corners, choke points and dives from above.
• In Q3A and Quake 4 -with the blaster removed in- multiplayer, the Gauntlet is your only weapon when rest of your weapons are all empty.
• With Quad Damage combination with the Gauntlet, you would kill full health enemies with a single slice. Remember you'll even glow through the walls if that's the case and anyone will be informed of your presence if you stay low.
• Unlike Fists from the earlier games, the Gauntlet will make whizzing sound while fired, this will give warning to the friend and foe alike.

Advantages

• Does not require ammo.
• Decent damage.
• Lethal in skilled hands and players who can read the map.
• Threatening in active combat near the pickups.
• Knockback sweeps enemy and denies them away from an important power-up.
• Awards player with a Gauntlet medal for every frag made with it.

Disadvantages

• Melee range.
• Skilled enemies can dodge and counterattack a clumsy player.
• Requires positioning near chokes or a chaotic environment to be utilized.
• Knockback shoves enemy away from melee range unless he/she is cornered.
• Airjuggling or pressure fire beforehand would be required to corner a target.

Gallery

The Gauntlet in Quake 4.

Pummel (Quake Champions)