Warp Rifle

The Warp Rifle is a Xenotech weapon used by Naya Deveraux.

This Xenotech weapons combines anti-matter with Fuse to create violent singularities. An upgrade provides the user with cloaking ability to aid in stealth missions.

Naya's weapon is somewhat tricky to use, but it's still powerful. The Warp Rifle has a large magazine of Fuse. She can fire for quite some time before it's expended. But the Warp Rifle has a drawback: it overheats. Fire the weapon in bursts to avoid it shutting down periodically. Make sure that you look at the HUD to see the weapon's temperature. A small bar rises when Naya fires, and you can't let it fill up without causing the weapon to overheat. Another way to avoid this problem is to listen to the gun; the Warp Rifle fires at a higher and higer pitch as it gets closer to overheating. In time, you learn to avoid problems by the sound alone, so you won't have to stare at the heat indicator.

The Warp Rifle is also a weak gun in terms of its direct damage output. If you're trying to kill a single enemy by himself, this is not a very great weapon. However, it's the Chain Warp feature that makes the Warp Rifle very effective.

When enemies are hit repeatedly with Warp Rifle rounds, they start to destabilize. The rounds eventually trigger a singularity that explodes are the target, dealing high damage to everything nearby. That's why Naya can be deadly even with such a "weak" gun. Wound one enemy in a group, and then kill a different soldier. The explosion from the slain target wounds the entire group of enemies. The explosion also kills the soldier that was already wounded; he explodes as well, taking the rest of the squad along with him.

Everyone ends up blowing up, and you get a massive bonus to your experience total. This technique lets Naya clear entire groups in short order. She levels up faster than any of the other agents because of these chain explosions.

Later in the game, you learn a skill called Fusion. This skill lets people heal themselves, revive teammates, and gain invulnerability and free Xenotech ammo for a short period. Naya also gets to fire her Warp Rifle without heating problems while under the influence of Fusion.

When fighting against Leadfoots, Enforcers, and other heavy targets, it's better for Naya to switch to her secondary firearm. The warp Rifle isn't good against armored targets because it can't make them explode. You're better off with a nice burst damage weapon, like the Prowler. However, the Warp Rifle's DPS goes up with sustained fire; if you can feather the Warp Rifle at the top end just before it overheats, its accuracy and DPS make it useful against large targets at range if she has no other good options at that moment.

Once you get the Phantom Skill, Naya becomes even more effective. This secondary skill cloaks Naya. She won't be spotted by any ranged enemies. Only targets that get into very close range are able to attack, so you're suddenly free to explore, outflank your opponents, or fire at will while standing in the middle of a room.

Phantom draws power form your Warp Rifle's power supply, so you can't do this constantly. Wait until you engage enemies, and then trigger the cloak. Naya disappears from view, but her outline is still visible on the screen. When the field begins to shimmer, use Phantom again to restore the cloak (as needed).

While cloaked, Naya can sneak past enemies, engage in stealthy takedowns, or get behind dangerous opponents. She easily eliminates Riot Troops because of this, and she's also great against Enforcers and Leadfoots. She can cloak, switch to her Prowler, and deal damage against these enemies' weak spots without any serious risk to herself.

Additional Details
Several weapon skins are available in the Campaign and Echelon for the Warp Rifle. All of which can be purchased with Fuse Credits.