| “ | The quad temporarily multiplies all your weapon's strengths by
four times. Let the gibbing begin! |
” |
—The Quake II Manual | ||
The Quad Damage (aka Power Amplifier 
) is a power-up found in Quake II that, once activated, multiplies a player's weapon damage by 4. Its effects last for 30 seconds.
In Single Player, it can be stored in the inventory when picked up and used whenever you feel like it. The number of Quad Damages a player can carry in their inventory is based upon the difficulty level - three on Easy, two on Normal, one on Hard and Nightmare. However, in multiplayer, it is instantly activated after being picked up - unless the Instant Powerups deathmatch flag is set to false. (Instant Powerups has a dmflags value of 16)
In the CTF modification (available in a Quake 2 3.20 update bundle) the player with the quad glows the color of his respective team.
The final boss of Ground Zero, the Black Widow Guardian, has the ability to use Quad Damage too, but she will only use it on certain difficulty settings and only in response to the player using their own Quad Damage - see her own page for details.
Strategies
- There isn't much to say, really - it drastically increases your damage output, so use it whenever you have a tough fight ahead (such as a boss fight). As well as ending the battle more quickly, it'll also save ammo for you.
- For general use, the Railgun benefits very well from Quad Damage, able to kill anything less than a Tank in one shot (a Tank or Tank Commander will require two quad-damage railgun shots). The Super Shotgun is another worthy candidate once Quad Damage is active, causing even a partial hit on an enemy to inflict severe damage, thereby saving the trouble of accurate aiming. For boss fights, a quad-damage Chain Gun will bring down a Super Tank, Hornet or even the Jorg or the Makron in mere seconds.
- Be advised that the splash damage caused by your explosive weapons is also increased while Quad Damage is active, so grenades and rockets should be used with caution.
- In the single-player Quake II campaign, it's actually a very common power-up - over twenty can be found, so don't shy away from using them. However, it is rarer in the two Mission Packs - eight can be found in The Reckoning (or ten on Easy difficulty), and only two in Ground Zero, so they should be used more sparingly there. In Ground Zero in particular, with only two Quad Damages available it's a good idea to plan ahead when you intend to use each one. However, both of the two Mission Packs introduce a new damage-boost power-up: Dual Fire Damage and Double Damage respectively.
- It is a very common power-up in the Nintendo 64 and Playstation versions of Quake II, but in those campaigns, power-ups are activated automatically upon collection rather than being added to your inventory, so be ready to make good use of it.
Appearances
Quake II: Comm Center, Installation, Ammo Depot, Supply Station, Warehouse, Detention Center, Security Complex (x2 on Easy or Medium), Torture Chambers, Upper Mines, Borehole, Lower Mines, Receiving Center, Sudden Death, Processing Plant, Reactor, Cooling Facility, Pumping Station 1, Pumping Station 2, Research Lab, Inner Hangar, Lower Palace, Upper Palace, Inner Chamber (2023 remaster only)
The Reckoning: Waste Sieve (Easy only), Inner Compound, Industrial Facility, Outer Base, Water Treatment Plant, Badlands, Lower Hangars, Strogg Freighter, Cargo Bay, Command Center (Easy only)
Ground Zero: Thaelite Mines, Waterfront Storage
Call of the Machine: Strogg Jammers, Outer Complex, Security Annex x2, Comms Bunker x2, Uplink Tower x2, Heavy Water, Baklava
Quake II 64: Central Complex, Orbital Defense, Docking Station, Cargo Bay, Organic Storage, Processing Center, Geothermal Station, Detention Center, Research Lab, Bio-Waste Treatment, Access Conduits, Descent to Core
Quake II PSX: Installation, Comm Center, Detention Center, Guard House, Power Plant, Pumping Station 2, Defense Command x2, Research Lab x2
Gallery
