The Railcannon is the fourth base weapon found in ULTRAKILL, first unlocked in 2-2: DEATH AT 20,000 VOLTS, with its blue variant, the Electric. Its green variant, the Screwdriver, and its red variant, the Malicious, can both be purchased in the shop for 100,000P each.
It is a blue and silver cannon, with three ridged prongs which extend outward in a triangular orientation from the base of the weapon. At the base are three large circular neon lights, one of which is connected to an orange wire that runs along the top prong to the front of the weapon. The lower two prongs each have four spinning neon-colored screws along their sides. These screws deactivate after firing the weapon and reactivate one at a time as the Railcannon's charge is restored. At the very front of the weapon's base is its muzzle, which is altered for each variant. The Electric's muzzle is a glowing blue light, the Screwdriver's is a drill, and the Malicious Railcannon's muzzle holds a small flame inside.
Mechanics
The Railcannon is unique among other weapons for being the only one to differentiate variants fully on their primary fire mechanics, rather than alternate fire. Each of the Railcannon variations' primary fires are completely different from one another in execution.
All Railcannon variants can be fired immediately after being swapped to, and possess a shared 16-second cooldown which is indicated by a distinct sound effect and a marker on the HUD, shown as a large lightning bolt icon next to the player's weapon icon by default. When one Railcannon is fired, all variants of the Railcannon become unusable until the end of the cooldown.
The Railcannon's alternate fire is the same across all variants. When used, the player's view will briefly zoom in and focus over the course of roughly a second, reducing field of view and acting as a scope for the player to aim more easily. On release, it will then briefly zoom back out.
Usage
Due to the Railcannon's powerful damage and long cooldown, it functions as a strong burst-fire tool that requires good timing, positioning, and precision to utilize to its maximum potential. As each Railcannon variant shares the same cooldown, each are fine-tuned to working in certain situations better than others, meaning that the player should consider their options well to determine which to use at any given time.
Variants
The Electric Railcannon is the blue variant of the Railcannon, first obtained in 2-2: DEATH AT 20,000 VOLTS. It fires a large electric hitscan beam that infinitely pierces enemies.
Mechanics
The Electric Railcannon, when shot, fires a powerful hitscan beam, piercing through any enemy it is aimed at until it hits a surface. The beam does 8 damage on contact, causing hitstop for each enemy it hits.
The Electric Railcannon's beam is able to trigger conductor chains on enemies which have nails from the 
Nailgun embedded into them, causing the enemy to be launched into the air if they are Light or Medium weight, destroying all nails previously embedded inside, and causing the shock to be chained to all nearby grounded enemies and conductive projectiles, dealing damage based on the number of nails inside the original target (2 base damage, plus 0.06 damage per nail, up to a maximum of 2 + 6 damage at 90 nails embedded in an enemy). Conductive projectiles include magnets, coins, rockets, tethered chainsaws, and Screwdriver Railcannon drills. Conductive projectiles will receive and transmit the shock to other nearby enemies or projectiles, functionally extending the shock's range. If any enemy chained to also has nails embedded inside it, they will do the same. Airborne enemies will not be able to receive shocks transmitted by conductors, but are able to transmit them to other enemies themselves.
Electric Railcannon beams can be reflected by coins from the 
Marksman Revolver, bouncing off and locking on to nearby enemies or player projectiles with damage increased by 2 for the first coin reflected, and by 1 for any subsequent coins in the chain. They are also able to detonate cores, rockets, and cannonballs, causing greater explosions in each instance.
When used underwater, the Electric Railcannon will instantly shock any enemies near the player, similar to a conductor chain, as well as giving the player 50 self-damage that is instantly filled with Hard Damage for a brief period.
Usage
Firing a direct piercing beam at its target, the Electric Railcannon has the simplest base mechanics of any of the Railcannon variants. At its most basic, it can be used as a form of occasional burst damage against bulky enemies or crowds. Of all the Railcannon variants, the Electric is the one which relies most on good positioning to maximize its potential. It can be used well in close quarters where groups of enemies are closer together, allowing the player to line up a shot and hit many at once. A player can pay close attention to the relative locations of high-priority enemies and determine where it is possible to line up a straight shot and hit the most at once. This lends itself well to the use of the Marksman Revolver, whose coin lock-on can, in many cases, make it easier to line up potential shots.
Additionally, it works well as a faster method of triggering conductor chains due to its instant firing speed, an alternative to the 
Jumpstart Nailgun which has a shorter cooldown but takes much longer to charge up an electric shock.
Underwater, the Electric Railcannon's power is greatly amplified and allows it to function as an area-of-effect tool, but coming at greater risk to the player due to its self-damage.
The Screwdriver Railcannon is the green variant of the Railcannon, obtained in the Terminal Shop for 100,000P. It fires a drill projectile which attaches to enemies and causes them to greatly bleed over time.
Mechanics
The Screwdriver Railcannon fires a fast-moving drill projectile in a long arc, which deals 3 damage on initial contact and then continues to deal up to 7.25 damage while attached to an enemy. If the enemy a drill hits has low enough health that it is instantly killed by the initial contact damage, the drill will pierce through the enemy instead. Once attached to an enemy with a sufficient amount of health, the Screwdriver's drill will embed itself into the enemy, causing it to spew large amounts of blood in a greater radius than normal healing range, as well as dealing damage over time until either the enemy dies or roughly 7.5 seconds have passed.
When embedded into an enemy, the Screwdriver's drill can be parried by punching the enemy anywhere on its body, which causes it to deal the remaining amount of damage before the drill would have normally disappeared, on top of an additional 5 parry damage. Parrying the drill out of the enemy will also send it flying in the direction it was parried and reset its time until destruction, allowing it to attach to another enemy.
Screwdriver drills are one of multiple projectiles which are able to chain conductor hitscans, the others being magnets, coins, rockets, and tethered chainsaws. Screwdriver drills also prevent 
Mindflayers from teleporting when attached.
Usage
The Screwdriver is a support-oriented weapon, functioning as a tool that can help the player recover from dangerous situations or be more aggressive against threatening enemies or large bosses with its constantly healing drill and extended range of blood. It has strong damage-over-time capabilities that allow it to put pressure on big enemies when the player has multiple priorities at hand. As the drill is a projectile, unlike the other Railcannon variants which both fire hitscan attacks, the player must take greater care to avoid missing their shots in the heat of combat.
Drills can also be used to deal high amounts of single-target damage between big enemies by utilizing the weapon's parry mechanic. Parrying a drill out of an enemy can allow it to deal roughly 15.25 damage with little setup necessary. As well as this, it will cause the drill to be shot back out, allowing the player to potentially juggle a single drill between multiple big enemies indefinitely if they can consistently aim the projectile correctly when parrying.
The Screwdriver Railcannon in particular functions extremely well against Mindflayers, as its ability to prevent them from teleporting allows the player to maximize their damage output on them with other weapons, and can even be incorporated into juggling a drill between other enemies.
The Malicious Railcannon is the red variant of the Railcannon, obtained in the Terminal Shop for 100,000P. It fires a powerful hitscan beam very similar to the 
Malicious Face which creates a large explosion on contact with surfaces or enemies.
Mechanics
The Malicious Railcannon fires an orange-yellow hitscan beam, which creates an explosion on contact with any surface or enemy it hits. Direct hits from the beam of the Malicious Railcannon deal 2 damage, and the explosion itself deals 6.25, as well as dealing 50 self-damage to the player if they come into contact with the explosion. Unlike most explosions, the explosion produced by the beam does not have any falloff range, meaning that it will deal a set amount of damage no matter where in the blast an enemy is.
The Malicious Railcannon's hitscan beam can be reflected off of coins from the Marksman Revolver, locking onto nearby enemies or player projectiles such as cores and rockets with damage increased by 2 for the first coin reflected, and by 1 for any subsequent coins in the chain. Coins will not affect the explosion's damage, only that of the hitscan itself. The beam can directly hit and detonate cores, rockets, and cannonballs as well. In the case of the former two projectiles, it will greatly augment their explosion radius and damage when detonated.
Usage
The Malicious Railcannon excels in raw damage output, as its explosion attack is versatile and can be used in a number of different scenarios. It is one of the only weapons in the player's arsenal that can produce a hitscan explosion, making it comparatively easier to aim and fire at enemies. It is also one of the only instances of an explosion with zero damage falloff, ensuring that even enemies on the edge of its blast radius will still receive the full force of its attack and also improving its ability to deal with groups.
It can be used as a crowd control weapon, hastily clearing out large groups of lower-health enemies such as 
Filth and 
Drones. The Malicious Railcannon also has synergy with the 
Firestarter Rocket Launcher against big enemies, as it is able to set gasoline on fire much faster than other explosives.
In some cases, it works as a strong explosive boost weapon that can propel the player swiftly across great distances, at the cost of 50 self-damage.
The weapon is powerful when used alongside the 
Core Eject Shotgun or 
Rocket Launcher, as its hitscan beam's ability to detonate cores and rockets greatly augments their strength and blast radius.
Advanced Techniques
Railcoin
The Electric Railcannon's ability to pierce infinitely through enemies can be taken advantage of in combination with Marksman Revolver coins to create devastating damage setups. By throwing a coin behind an enemy, then aiming the Railcannon to hit the coin through the enemy, the player can cause the electric beam to hit an enemy two times, the second with increased damage. Some players may even opt for setups that involve placing coins both behind and in front of the enemy, allowing them to hit a coin behind an enemy with the Railcannon's electric beam, let it lock on to the coin(s) in front of the enemy, then lock back on to the enemy, tripling the damage output of a single shot.
Core Nuke
A core nuke is performed by shooting a core from the Core Eject Shotgun with certain hitscan attacks, these being either another core or rocket turned hitscan by an Impact Hammer shot, or a shot from the Malicious Railcannon. Core nukes are almost always performed using the Malicious Railcannon, due to its lack of necessary setup or prep, and instant fire speed. A core nuke is the largest explosion achievable by the player alone, and deals 13.25 damage to enemies on contact, making it one of the most volatile tools for dealing quick burst damage or clearing large crowds of enemies near-instantly.
Style Bonuses
| Name
|
Points
|
Description
|
| + JUGGLE
|
20
|
Hit any non-flying airborne enemy with an explosion or the Electric Railcannon.
|
| + FIREWORKS
|
120
|
Kill any non-flying airborne enemy with an explosion or the Electric Railcannon.
|
| + CONDUCTOR
|
1–90
|
Hit an enemy stuck with any type of  Nail with an Electric Railcannon shot or Lightning Strike, or kill an enemy with the shock produced by the Jumpstart Nailgun or
 Jumpstart Sawblade Launcher.
Point gain is equal to the number of Nails in the target, up to a maximum of 90.
|
| + SCREWED
|
60
|
Kill an enemy with a Screwdriver Railcannon drill.
|
| + CORKSCREW BLOW
|
60
|
Parry a Screwdriver Railcannon drill off of an enemy.
|
| + GIGA DRILL BREAK
|
120
|
Kill an enemy by parrying a Screwdriver Railcannon drill off of them.
|
Media
Trivia
- The weapon HUD icon of the Screwdriver Railcannon features a reference to the anime Gurren Lagann. The drill projectile depicted in the icon is based off of the main character's core drill, which acts as a key to his mech.
- The Screwdriver's drill uses the same model as the
Hideous Mass's harpoon attack.
- The Malicious Railcannon's name is an allusion to the Malicious Face, which has a hitscan beam attack functionally identical to that of the Malicious's primary fire. The enemy is also the "certain familiar face" mentioned in the weapon's description.
Terminal Entry
DATA:
This industrial tool was one of the earliest uses for the technology that eventually became electric guns.
Originally meant as a handheld generator, allowing for an easy way to generate electricity for temporary relocation, such as encampments during wars or expeditions.
As with most similar industrial tools, once mankind fell, it was repurposed as a weapon by the machine that wielded it, turning it from a lower voltage constant output into a single extremely high burst of energy that requires a long recharge time between shots.
Although a risky weapon, since its recharge time is so long, the railcannon's power makes it a worthy tool to wield, especially for someone carrying multiple weapons that they can use while the railcannon's battery recharges.
STRATEGY:
- Each variation serves a different purpose, and since they all share the same cooldown, it's important to know which version to use in any given situation.
- Total recharge time is 16 seconds. Current charge is indicated by a lightning bolt on the HUD.
ADVANCED STRATEGY:
- The Electric variation can hit the Marksman revolver's coins. Since it has infinite piercing power, with good timing and positioning one can shoot through an enemy to hit a coin, which will then ricochet the shot back into the same enemy, more than doubling the total damage dealt by a single shot.
- By using the Feedbacker arm to punch an enemy that the Screwdriver variation's screw is attached to, it can be relaunched, dealing an extra burst of damage to the enemy. If the screw hits another enemy, its timer will be fully reset, meaning a screw can be juggled between enemies practically infinitely with good timing and aim, though it will break if the enemy it's attached to dies.
- The Malicious variation's explosion range and damage can be greatly increased by hitting an airborne core from the Core Eject shotgun. This technique is highly risky, since missing means wasting the entire shot and having to wait another 16 seconds, but its rewards are bountiful.
Color Customization
Each unlockable preset is reproducible one-to-one with custom colors; their corresponding color and hex codes are also in the table below.
| Name
|
Soul Orbs
|
Color Code
|
STANDARD
|
0
|
N/A
|
INVERSE
|
10
|
R: 0.88
G: 0.88
B: 0.88
R: 0.25
G: 0.45
B: 0.70
R: 0.00
G: 0.35
B: 0.70
|
LOVE & LICORICE
|
25
|
R: 0.80
G: 0.40
B: 0.70
R: 0.60
G: 0.60
B: 0.60
R: 0.00
G: 0.00
B: 0.00
|
STATUE VEIN
|
50
|
R: 0.60
G: 0.60
B: 0.60
R: 0.60
G: 0.60
B: 0.60
R: 1.00
G: 0.00
B: 0.00
|
INDUSTRIAL
|
100
|
R: 0.88
G: 0.66
B: 0.00
R: 0.00
G: 0.00
B: 0.00
R: 0.00
G: 0.00
B: 0.00
|
Swordsmachine "Agony":
Virtue:
Flesh Prison:
Flesh Panopticon:
