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For the Duke Nukem Forever weapon, see Devastator (DNF).

The Devastator is a Gyrojet-type weapon found in Duke Nukem 3D and its many ports and expansions. It is notable for dealing damage at a faster rate than any other weapon in the game.

Characteristics[]

"Straight out of the Pentagon's secret lab comes this double barreled brute of a weapon which lets loose swarms of minature stinger missiles in the direction of your enemies. Ammo packs contain 50 rockets. You can carry up to 99 rockets" - Manual Description

The Devastator is a rapid fire rocket launcher weapon fed from overhead pan magazines which spits out small incendiary rockets at an impressive rate of fire like a machine gun. Note it has recoiling blast shields around its muzzle to deflect the flash from the user. The accuracy becomes less effective at longer ranges. The Devastator is immediately recognized by its dual-wielded appearance, unlike any other weapon in the game.

One should be aware when using the Devastator; it fires 2 rockets simultaneously and therefore each time the player fires the weapon the ammo count drops by 2 each time the weapon is fired. You can fire a max of 5 times before running out of ammo, as picking up a new Devastator will give you 15 ammo. Obviously it takes far less rockets to kill weaker opponents like Assault Troopers or Sharks - just 1 shot if accurate enough.

The weapon is the most powerful when it comes to an enemy with more hit weapons. Unfortunately it is not very effective in multiplayer combat.

Tips and Tricks[]

  • It quickly burns through ammo in just a few seconds; always keep an eye on the ammo counter when using the Devastator.
  • Although it doesn't inflict the same amount of damage as the RPG, it can be used much more efficiently in close combat due to the fact that the splash damage is minimal.
  • The Devastator is an excellent choice for clearing out large groups of enemies. The gun fires fast enough and each rocket does enough damage that it can carve through a large group in a matter of seconds.
  • The Devastator, except for the small amount of ammo, doesn't really have any huge weakness. It can kill weaker, Assault Troopers or Captains, to more dangerous enemies, Assault Commanders and Protector Drones and even Mini Battlelords, with just a few rounds and even bosses can be killed within a few seconds (about 63 rockets needed for first three bosses).
  • The Devastator is a great weapon against Octabrains - only one rocket is sufficient for this enemy; one can kill two Octabrains in one shot.
  • Devastator ammo can often be found in secret or out of the way areas. Keep an eye out for it.
  • The Devastator is not very effective in Dukematch especially in open spaces, Its best to use it in closed spaces because of very low speed rockets.Better use for this weapon is places like ventilation tubes and tight areas like the small dark corridors of hotel hell,or closed range maps like critical mass(e4m8).
  • The Devastator is useful for disguise sounds,because its multiple explosions do multiple sounds,so you can fire it in a Dukematch to hide your sounds(opening doors,elevators etc) without being heard.
  • A good usage for this weapon is when running/escaping, because opponent will try to follow you, and can be useful fire some rockets in small hallways to damage enemies.
  • Do not use steroids forwarding with this weapon.Its very low speed rockets will harm yourself,unless using fast ducking strategy.However,you can use roids and forward to get close to your opponent by fast-ducking(it will control duke excessive roids speed,jumping doesnt work because speed is not controlled) with this devastator will concentrate rockets.Enable your steroids,get close and fast duck to avoid self damaging when forwarding at enemy.Just try to not touch your rockets and the small splash damage.Using this tactic will explode all your rockets at same time(different from normal shooting that explodes 2 rockets by 2 in sequence),doing a great spreaded rocket area that can kill easily an 100hp and 0armor player for example.The more distanced,more spreaded all rockets will explode.
  • Try to fire it in dark areas or white areas because projectile is very small and maybe your opponent will not see your rockets coming.
  • Do not use devastator underwater.The rockets are more slow than normal.
  • Use jetpack when using devastator.Just activate jetpack in a flat ground and you will have a secure no-splash self-damage devastator,even at point blank range.Shoot at enemies legs,and the explosion will not harm you,even at point blank range,because the explosion cannot reach a flying duke,but avoid head and chest because can harm you.This is the best multiplayer use of devastator,because you can get close to your opponent and fire rockets.Combining jet+devastator also difficult your opponent to see the rockets coming.You can also activate jet+1 duck to explode rockets sooner,but you will have half of splash damage,so its your choice play secure or at least half secured at extreme close range.
  • This weapon spreads rockets like chaingun/shotgun, its not accurate like freezer.But it shoots in a predictable form, a lower and upper rocket.So using mouse to compensate innacuracy can be useful,but requires skill and luck.Move mouse up and down rapidly,and rockets will fly more accurate,this is useful in dukematch because less rockets will miss in random spread.if your opponent move to sides,do not move devastator to sides(left/right),but move mouse diagonally,because diagonallyzed makes a perfect line of rockets,and more accurate,but you need control floor hit and enemy's tall actor size.
  • Do not swing mouse excessively to sides (left/right),because it separates the rockets and you will not double-rocket hit your target.Try killing them without swinging mouse for sides,but up and down and diagonally ok,because these two movements incrases accuracy.Learning to kill only swinging mouse up and down seems to be the best tactic,because  less rockets will miss in random spread,so move copying your target movement,without moving mouse to sides.


Trivia[]

  • The Devastator's left barrel is slightly lower that the right barrel.
  • The Devastator is based on the real-life Gyrojet light machine gun proposal, but modified to fire rocket-propelled incendiary rounds.
  • The Devastator has no defined hit points or splash damages in USER.CON, the game will instead use the ones of the RPG with 1/4 of its values.
  • The rockets fired by the Devastator have no smoke trails, resembling the large rockets fired by the Cycloid Emperor.
  • The Devastator was replaced with the Missile Launcher in Duke Nukem 64.
  • The Devastator has made its return in Duke Nukem Forever.
  • The manual description of the Devastator implies it was a secret weapon developed in the Pentagon's secret lab. However the manual description is inaccurate in regards to the ammo pickups as only 15 rockets can be found in a pack; not 50.
  • On the Sega Saturn port of Duke Nukem 3D, the Devastator is first found in Launch Facility.
  • In the Sega Mega Drive port of Duke Nukem 3D, the Devastator is first found in the Incubator level.
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