Gauntlet (Q3)

In Quake 3 Arena and Quake Live multiplayer, the Gauntlet is a circular-saw melee weapon with a small taser mechanism under it. With the Machine Gun, is one of the weapons a player has when he/she spawns in.

If somebody is killed with it, the player will be awarded with a medal and announcer denounces the victim with "Humiliation!". Shoving an enemy back with a Gauntlet hit away from a power-up without scoring a kill, will not grant any medal but a clear "Denied!" announce can be heard. Upon a kill scored by Gauntlet, game feedback reads as "Visor pummeled by Major's Gauntlet.".

Strategies

 * Being an unique type weapon, Gauntlet generates invisible short ranged bullets to hit detect. Gauntlet once contacts it deals 50 damage then knocks away the victim, without adding extra damage. That ability would be useful to keep the close enemies away from the pickups you're about to take and "deny" them. At the other hand it tosses them away from you so you lose your chance to make a second contact under a second.
 * In an active combat, you'll have loads of chances of poking foes away from you at the narrow gates leading in or out of choke holds. Knowing where chaos rises in a crowded match is one of the key points of using Gauntlet effectively. Some weapons can't keep up with the high damage output of the Gauntlet or the close-range effect of it when foe is shoved in a wall or bearer keeps slashing with twitches to not knockback the unaware target away.
 * The Gauntlet is the weapon to humiliate somebody with! If you've managed to take off a lot of somebody's health, but they haven't died, run up to them and kill them with it. To be safe; use a rapid fire weapon and be sure opponent recently shown a sign of pain state (slow pitched grunt heard), else be sure he's cornered after an airjuggle before going in for the melee hit in a small time span.
 * To play safer, bind a button to " " and another to " " for corner peeking. Just be sure you bound both of these commands and can quickly swap to take a peek. This sorta binds may be banned in some league plays, but it's no harm when used in common level pub plays.
 * A tricky strategy is to use the Rocket Launcher to bounce an enemy directly into your Gauntlet. A variation of this strategy is to use the knockback of your Rocket Launcher to get them into a corner, where the Gauntlet excels for a finishing blow. For this to happen, you must circle closer to a rushing opponent and shoot the behind of their direction. Blast force will make them leap closer to you where you can follow up with another shot or finish with a jab depending on distance.
 * Waiting right next to a gate for someone fool enough to dive in without looking generally won't work well. Don't try to doubleback on someone next to a gate unless it's; a rather blind spot (ie. exit from room is way above or below), choke hold crosspath for an important item or you managed to ditch your chaser around 2-3 corners away. Peppering your trail with Grenade Launcher or a good practice at strafe-jumping is suggested in that case, so chaser won't have time for a direct pre-fire when you position next to that narrow gate.
 * If you're any obvious about camping near narrow gates, eventually you'll get a faceful of pellets from a Shotgun jump-twitchshot. Crouching near a gate may make you a smaller target to evade a careless shot, but a Shotgun sting will bury you into the ground instead. In case you're too obvious and getting rocket pre-fire or jump-stings, try to stack some armor before attempting to camp gates. To be safer, try to doubleback at ahead corners from a gate or get a drop on foes from above floors.
 * Considering the high rate of fire and damage output, this weapon can be more useful than it seems. If you encounter a group of players fighting in below quarters and you have height advantage, it may be worth your while to pull out the Gauntlet and dive into the fray. It is better if your foes don't see you before you attack, so you need to jump out from a cover or drop on them from above.
 * If you have to use the Gauntlet as a real weapon, try to surprise the enemy by hitting them in the back or drop on them from above. Ambush your enemies from the corners, from the side or when they're distracted. Crouch and walk around corners or important pickups to catch unaware players who are distracted by noises, combat or pickups infront of them. Rushing them plainly from the front will most likely get you killed.
 * Unlike Fists from the earlier games, the Gauntlet will make whizzing sound while fired, this will give warning to the friend and foe alike. Besides whizzing sound, Gauntlet also emits a rather large light radius upon firing it. That may look like useless but it's a situational act when you're sure opponent is way far from you but you have no idea where his/her position is at the open. That actually baits and attracts a RL hit by faking movement behind a proper cover with some armor stacks. It's also quite clever to switching to Gauntlet or whizzing it for a little while to switch back to a bigger weapon for baiting enemy to rush at you.
 * Rocket Jump! Use rocket jumps behind covers to send you flying at high speed, allowing a perfect opportunity to pull out your gauntlet within' airsteering and not only humiliate your opponent, humiliate them at the speed of sound. When getting pressure fire from right around the corner it worths a shot. Use Gauntlet's whizzing lights to attract pre-fire to learn where your foe's whereabouts.
 * Counter rocket-jumps in combat is possible when you're at slightly lower ground like end of the stairs or near a corner. Just don't hug the wall too close, climb a few steps if you can and bait the RL shot by crouch tapping and circle strafing around. For ensuring this either your opponent must be in the middle of multiple foes or you should keep your target under pressure fire with a rapid weapon and change your distance dynamically so he won't risk to swap for another weapon. When you expect a shot, jump and hold down to it while airsteering.
 * However, counter Rocket-jump is a risky endeavour on a 1-on-1 encounter without positioning because you can't measure the damage you'd take from the blast at all when you're a high priority target. Opponent may change to another weapon if they're not under pressure fire which you can't counter jump but have to dodge, or change attack frequencies. Having higher ground to get a drop on enemy is a safer way to approach the situation. Also to note, such tactic will end with you being obliterated by BFG shots if you ever dare to try it against the possessor.
 * In a heated up fight between more than two players you'll have lots of opportunity to surf rocket blasts to the head top of other foes or jump at the head of them in a hurry. Use " " command to lock your framerate to 125 for higher jumps. If you are standing above an opponent's head and they aren't aware, give them a warm welcome to the world of pain with your Gauntlet by crouch punching them.
 * It isn't just a weapon for if you run out of ammo, if you snuck up or bumped someone in melee range at a gate or corner, you can cause some major pain. Hug the corner near a narrow corridor and diagonally run up to wall forward when you hear someone coming, wall collision will give you a slight speed boost and a twitching slice will get anyone walking closeby. If you're waiting near a larger gate, you may wanna practice wall slip to pounce towards any extending enemy.
 * Seek height advantage to drop on foes or wait around corners to listen footsteps to suckerpunch someone. Lightning Gun and Railgun emit low buzz and abyssal humming sounds, listen for them. Audial cues like footsteps, weapon humming or jumps give great ideas about enemy positioning before entering an area.
 * When you got the low ammo warning in the combat, consider switching to Gauntlet behind a cover or higher ground quickly to save ammo in case you can kill the cornered opponent. You never know when you might run out of ammo and having an unexpected weapon switch leaving you vulnerable.
 * If you see somebody with the Gauntlet and you are being targeted, run away and fire at them. As long as you're moving away from them, it'll be difficult for them to get up to you and attack. Be careful not to back into a wall though; if you do, you're dead meat.
 * If you have a Shotgun, you should never need the Gauntlet. Yet it's good to remember their use of approach is pretty similar; gates, corners, choke points and dives from above.
 * With Quad Damage combination with the Gauntlet, you would kill full health enemies with a single slice. Remember you'll even glow through the walls if that's the case and anyone will be informed of your presence if you stay low.

Advantages

 * Does not require ammo.
 * Decent damage, can finish weakened players around pickups with one jab.
 * Threatening in active combat near the pickups.
 * Fast fire rate, can lock a cornered opponent and kill it.
 * Rewards small twitching, making it harder to dodge but unreliable as well.
 * Lethal in skilled hands and players who can read the map.
 * Knockback sweeps enemy and denies them away from an important power-up.
 * Sound and light effect works like a taunt at long range to improvise.

Disadvantages

 * Melee range, a Shotgun can out-do it at most circumstances.
 * Skilled enemies can dodge and counterattack a clumsy player.
 * Requires positioning near chokes or a chaotic environment to be utilized.
 * Risky stunts required to get closer or escape and position.
 * Knockback shoves enemy away from melee range unless he/she is cornered.
 * Airjuggling or pressure fire beforehand would be required to corner a target.
 * When you are forced to use it actively, it'll get you flanked in a crowded match.
 * Any technique you try to score a hit may get stale against better players after a while.