Nailgun
Production information
Technical specifications
Damage Per Hit	25
Magazine Size	50 100 (upgraded)
Maximum Ammunition	300
Ammunition Type	Nails
Rate of Fire	375 rpm
Usage
Era(s)	Quake 4
[Source]

In Quake 4, the Nailgun is a powerful, compact, full-auto Strogg rotary cannon that shoots Nails; which are un-aerodynamic flechettes which shatter on impact, inflicting splash damage. At first, the weapon is a little bit slow with below average accuracy, but upgrades throughout the single player game make the Nailgun very powerful and useful.

UpgradesEdit

The first upgrade is obtained at the start of the Aqueducts. Before you enter your tank, a tech marine will upgrade it so that it shoots much faster and has a 100-round magazine, if player fire more than 50 rounds, he/she needs to reload 2 magazines. Reload often, this weapon takes a while to reload one magazine, let alone two.

The second upgrade is obtained at the start of the Recomposition center. After saving Sasaki, he'll upgrade your Nailgun so that it can home in on targets if they're locked on and a small scope to allow you to lock onto targets. Aim at your enemy in the small orange circle on your scope to lock targets, the nails will find their mark themselves. Remember to keep scoping in to let the nails guide to their target, the guided nails will not work against the enemy taking cover though, thankfully, only Tactical Stroggs will do this.

StrategiesEdit

Single PlayerEdit

• In Single Player, the Nailgun does almost twice as much damage as the Machine Gun or Hyperblaster, but also has a noticeably slower rate of fire as well as below average accuracy at long range. It also has a very brief split-second spin-up time between when you press the fire button and when the weapon actually begins to fire, somewhat like a minigun. Additionally, after you stop firing the Nailgun, it needs to cool down for a second or so before it can be fired again. As a result, it cannot be effectively fired in short controlled bursts to save ammo, and instead must be fired in a single long full-auto burst. Still, it's a very powerful weapon at medium range, and more effective at taking out medium or heavy enemies than the Machine Gun or Shotgun.
• It can take out medium-powered enemies, with a small volley of nails. the low rate of fire makes it difficult to down an enemy quickly, so make sure you can retreat before using it. The Nailgun's nails often cause enemies to flinch in pain, interrupting their attacks, which can be very useful, especially against Berserkers, but the nails may have trouble stopping charging Grunts, so take them down quickly is still recommended.
• Its upgrades give it a major power boost. The first one increases it's magazine size to 100 and gives it a faster rate of fire. This makes the Nailgun deadly, as it can tear through medium-powered enemies in a matter of seconds. It also gives it a chance against strong enemies, as a flood of nails can down even a Light Tank, especially if you aim for the head. The 100-round magazine takes longer to reload, but the extra firepower is more than worth it.
• The second upgrade allows nails to home in a on a target if seen through the scope. This is extremely useful if the enemy is faraway or trying to hide behind something, or your target is agile. When fired, the nails will take the straightest path to the target, even if it means hitting a wall. Make sure that you have plenty of room in front of you before you fire, try to use this lock-in ability to conserve ammo.
• A good strategy to use against bigger ranged opponents after getting the homing upgrade is to lock on a target, then (while still locked on) hide behind cover and fire your nailgun in a way that the nails curve around the cover and hit your enemy. This way you can kill or weaken stronger enemies from relative safety. However, this tactic is not too useful against enemies that move quickly towards you, as they will soon blow your cover. Therefore this tactic is best used against slow or stationary opponents.
• Try to conserve ammo, as Nail ammunition pickups are quite rare in the game, you are the only one using this weapon. (Gunners also use nailgun, but they do not drop ammo)

MultiplayerEdit

• In multiplayer, the Nailgun's slow rate of fire and slow projectile makes it difficult to use it against one person. Even against groups it's low rate of fire can mean that you'll be spotted and blown away before you can kill most of the people in the group.
• However, it is useful as an area-denial weapon, as a large volley of nails coming for a corridor is sure to dissuade an enemy from attacking.
• The scope may still exist, but the homing ability is canceled.
• In Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, the nailgun is the Strogg version of the GDF shotgun.

TriviaEdit

• When the Nailgun is given to the player for the first time, at the Perimeter Defense Station, the giving Marine states that it was obtained from a Strogg. This is quite notable, as most encountered Strogg feature built-in weaponry, and Tactical and Failed Transfers, the only Strogg enemies in Quake 4 that carry external weapons, appear far later in the game. It is possible that the other Marines were already facing Tactical Transfers long before Kane did.
• The Gunner uses the similar weapon, he will not drop ammo upon death though.