SparqBeam Sidearm

Although meant as a personal defense device, the SparqBeam Sidearm generates a respectable offensive blast at higher settings.

Overview
The SparqBeam will be your first energy weapon, and its ability to be 'reloaded' by recharging it an infinite amount of times will be a welcome feature in the early stages of the game. When you get your hands on one it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the various options in the MFD for it before you use it in combat.

For the SparqBeam and later energy weapons the settings function as follows: low power output does low damage but incurs low heat buildup. Higher settings do the opposite. When enough heat builds up the weapon will shut down to cool, potentially leaving you in a jam. The "Overload" setting fires a blast for massive damage but instantly maxes out the heat meter, and Overload must be re-enabled manually after each shot. An energy weapon set to overload will show "OVER" in the list of weapons.

One useful trick of the SparqBeam is that by setting the output to the lowest level it can be used to "clean up" dead bodies and robotic wrecks by shooting them, for a minimal cost of battery power.

Trivia

 * The animation frame of this weapon firing is actually not shown in the game itself, even if present in the files. This applies to all versions except the Source Port update, where it can be enabled using "Show All Weapon Frames" Game Option.