Spitmaw Blaster

Spitmaw Blaster
Statistics
Stat 1	Bonus Damage
Stat 2	Effective Range
Stat 3	Stagger Power
Databank Info
Databank ID	AST-AW-004
Classification	Weapon, Bioengineered
Materials	Unidentified biomatter
Type	Medium-to-short range, Semi-auto

Spitmaw Blaster is a bioengineered weapon found in Returnal. It is a shotgun-like weapon that fires a spread of projectiles which can stagger enemies. While aiming-down-sights, the projectile spread becomes tighter. By default, it functions as a primarily short-range weapon, but with certain traits, it can become a versatile weapon suited for many combat situations. Similar to the Tachyomatic Carbine, it is found naturally in the Overgrown Ruins region.

This weapon is unique, as it is the only weapon in the game that has decreased damage with range (though this can be mitigated with enough points in the Effective Range stat), and is also one of two weapons in this game that cannot have its 6-round magazine size increased.

This weapon has 3 statistics: Bonus Damage, Effective Range, and Stagger Power.

• Bonus Damage increases this weapon's damage.
• Effective Range reduces the amount of damage drop off when farther away from a target (pellets lose less damage the farther they travel).
• Stagger Power increases how much Stagger damage this weapon deals to enemies (doesn't increase damage to Staggered enemies, just increases how quickly the Stagger bar fills up).

In Game Description

Bioengineered weapon. Bio-ammunition, very effective at close range.

Alt-Fire Modes

There are 11 Alt-Fires that weapons have access to. For more information about Alt-Fires, please visit the Alt-Fire page found here.

Weapon Traits

The following is a list of the Spitmaw Blaster's Weapon Traits. For more information about how Weapon Traits work, please visit the Weapon Traits page found here.

Trait	Effect	Review
Wide Maw	Projectiles deal additional damage but have a wider spread. Level 1: 40% more damage. Reduced range is very significant. Being at point-blank range helps with consistency. Higher trait levels increase the weapon's damage further.	Bad; good damage, but the wide spread horribly reduces range to sword-distance. Avoid it at all costs.
Narrow Maw	Projectiles have a tighter spread. Tighter spread helps to engage enemies from farther distances. Higher levels increase damage and further tighten spread.	Good; increased range is always nice.
Slug Shot	Fires an additional high-damage, high-speed slug shot. Only way to keep the Spitmaw's original spread. The slug travels straight down the center of your sight and doesn't suffer from damage falloff. Higher levels further increase the slug's damage.	Excellent; This makes the gun more versatile in all combat situations.
PROFICIENCY LEVEL 5 REQUIRED
Explosive Spit	Projectiles explode on impact or after a set distance. Damage from the explosion MAY scale down with distance.	Great; Deals good damage to minor enemies, potentially killing them in one shot.
Rapid Spitter	Fires at full-auto mode. Lets you hold down the trigger instead of manually press it every time. At level 1, the firerate isn't noticeably faster, mostly just adds the full auto function. At level 2, a full magazine can be emptied in half of the original time. At level 3, a full magazine can be emptied in a third of the original time. Only big downside is how frequently the weapon will need to be reloaded. Higher levels increase this weapon's firerate.	Great; Change in fire rate is noticeable to outputting shots faster.
PROFICIENCY LEVEL 15 REQUIRED
Backsplash	High chance to regain a projectile if all pellets hit a target. Pair with Rapid Spitter to greatly increase how long you can fire. Even with level 1 trait, odds of regaining a pellet are pretty high. Higher traits increase the odds of regaining a pellet. At level 3, the odds of regaining a pellet are almost guaranteed. Not going to activate very often against smaller or more distant targets.	Great/Situational; Hitting with all projectiles against some enemies is difficult, but its damage in some situations is undeniable.
Critical Stagger	Projectiles may deal additional damage to staggered hostiles. Higher levels _.	Good; Can passively adds damage during Staggers, which are easy to achieve with this gun.
PROFICIENCY LEVEL 25 REQUIRED
Piercing Spit	Projectiles will pierce through hostiles and explode on delay. Explosions can help finish off enemies if the initial shots don't. Higher levels _.	Good; deals an extra bit of burst damage with satisfying sound design.
Acid Clouds	Hostiles leave acid clouds behind upon death. Short-ranged, almost negligible. Higher levels _.	Bad; short-ranged damage effect that is almost a non-perk except when enemies are right inside.

Databank Entries

Research Level 1

A bioengineered, medium-to-short range weapon. Based on some type of amphibian creature, many of the organs seem to be redesigned or removed, yet the central nervous system remains intact, causing the weapon to [UNKNOWN ERROR] and stop functioning when it reaches its functional capacity. The ammunition consists of pods that are able to pierce even metal and are coated with a highly acidic mucus, which can inflict further damage to the target. The "maw" is fairly wide in the design, causing the pods to spread widely, so short range is advised for maximum damage.

Research Level 2

The gestating pods [DATABASE MISMATCH] near-hatched state by the firing mechanism. The expansion of [CRITICAL ERROR] contact resulting in extreme pain, preventing the target's nerve receptors from being blocked. Simply put, the inflicted damage must be endured and cannot be prevented by anything other than extensive medical treatment.

Research Level 3

\*;#^but are they ready?" It was impossible at this point for her to keep the nervousness from creeping up her throat and into her words. His eyes never left the operating tables. Their injections were almost complete. The only response he finally made was to lift his finger, indicating the smaller^;#\=

Pictures

_