The Shrinker (also known as the Shrink Ray) is a weapon capable of shrinking an enemy, making it possible to stomp it (Duke will automatically stomp on shrunken enemies within range). It doesn't discriminate by hit points (although bosses are immune) and often is a weapon to use against strong foes.
The Shrinker is first picked up in the Lunar Apocalypse level Spaceport.
On the Sega Saturn port the Shrinker is first found in The Abyss.
The Atomic Edition expansion later included a counter-part of the Shrinker, the Microwave Expander.
Description
Shrinker in the N64 port.
The primary and only function of the Shrinker is to shrink enemies. Even though it inflicts no damage whatsoever, it's arguably one of the most devastating weapons in the entire franchise. The player should come closer and stomp the shrunk enemy, otherwise the enemy will turn back to normal after 11 seconds.
The Shrinker has a surprisingly fast firing rate and can emit a large quantity of projectiles in a short period of time.
The Shrinker uses green mineral crystals as ammunition.
The Protector Drone is capable of firing energy blasts functionally identical to the Shrinker's, and is immune to the Shrinker itself. How it can fire these blasts is never specified, as it holds neither the Shrinker itself nor does it drop any ammo upon death.
A Battlelord Sentry is just as vulnerable to the Shrinker as other enemies, though its large size paradoxically makes it difficult to hit with a Shrinker projectile.
Tips and Tricks
- A weapon of choice against enemies with lots of health such as Assault Commanders, Pig Cops, Enforcers and even Battlelord Sentrys due to the fact that only one shot is required to shrink them.
- Since it is not a hitscan weapon, it should be only used at small distances.
- The Shrinker is very good for conserving ammo because it takes one shot to shrink an enemy. This can be a lifesaver in certain situations, as it allows you to conserve ammo for very useful weapons, like the RPG, for situations where it's really needed.
- You can shrink multiple enemies with one blast. The enemies need to be right next to each other in order for it to work. The Holoduke is useful for baiting enemies to get extremely close to each other for a multi-shrink.
- The projectiles can be deflected off mirrors; this can be used to your advantage to bounce them around a corner.
- It is possible to shrink yourself by bouncing the projectile off a mirror and having it hit Duke Nukem. See Effects of being shrunk, below.
- It doesn't have any effect whatsoever on bosses, Protector Drones, or mechanical enemies such as Turrets or Sentry Drones.
- Use steroids forwarding with this weapon.It will not harm yourself,even if you bypass it(exception is mirror reflection).Shrinker also have the highest projectile speed of the game,more fast than RPG,Freezer and Devastator,so the combination of highest projectile speed + no self harm + steroids is deadly at dukematches.
- You can be immune of shrinker rays when using steroids or you can grow and back normal by activating it.So,at dukematches be sure that your opponent doesn't have steroids or jetpack(he can escape flying).
Notes
- Several bugs related to the Shrinker are present in the game.
- If an enemy (with exception of the Enforcer and Pig Cop) is hit (or frozen) while in shrunk state, he will act as a normal enemy despite being shrunk, and will not turn back to normal size.
- If a Battlelord Sentry is returned back to normal after being shrunk, it will just run around without firing until it is hit.
- If a babe is shrunk, they become slightly larger when they return to normal.
- In general, enemies that recover from being shrunk will be stretched slightly differently compared to their original size.
- In Duke Nukem Advance, shrunk enemies can still attack the player and inflict normal damage to him/her, whether it is a bug or a developer's oversight is not known.
- The Shrinker actually has a blast radius, and as a result large enemies will be hard to be hit with accuracy (this is the case with the Battlelord Sentry). This basically results in the projectile hitting the "outside enemy" but the explosion doesn't have enough radius to hit the "inside enemy" resulting in a null hit.
Effects of being shrunk
If the player is shrunk by the Shrinker or by the Protector Drone attack, the following effects will manifest:
- The viewpoint will change to be close to the floor.
- The player will be unable to use any weapons (even kick enemies). Instead, two hands will display, to represent Duke moving them up and down while running.
- It will be possible to enter small spaces (although Duke will die if the shrink effect wears off while he is inside).
- A shrunken Duke will drop down to a lower floor instantly. That is, when going off an edge of a cliff, Duke will appear at the bottom instantly instead of falling.
- Other players in a multiplayer game can kill Duke instantly by stomping him. Enemies will not attack or stomp Duke while he is shrunk, although if the player returns to their normal size close to an enemy they will be smashed.
- It's still possible to use the Jetpack while being shrunk (which can make it harder to stomp the player).
- Steroids grant immunity from a shrink blast. A shrunken player who uses Steroids will automatically return to their normal size.