Alternate Fire

Alternate Fire (Alt-Fire for short, also known as Secondary Fire) is a feature of some weapons that performs a different action than their normal fire modes or interacts with their primary fire mode in some way. As of Update 17.0, Alternate fire can be bound to a dedicated button/key (default Mouse3  on PC and R. Thumbstick  on PS4, XB1 and NSW).

Weapons with Alternate Fire

Primary Weapons

Weapon	Alternate Fire
Argonak	Toggles between Automatic and Semi-Automatic firing modes. The Semi-Automatic firing mode has higher damage, critical chance, zoom level, and status chance over the Automatic, at the expense of fire rate. By default, the Argonak starts any given mission as a Semi-Automatic.
Battacor	Charges a powerful beam with width of 0.5 meters, creating a 3.4 meter area of effect explosion on impact with an enemy and a 6 meter explosion on impact with a surface. The beam deals higher Radiation damage as opposed to the primary fire's Puncture and Magnetic damage, with higher critical chance, critical multiplier, accuracy, and innate punch through, at the expense of status chance. Consumes 0 ammunition and requires a brief charging period before it can fire. Rather than consuming ammunition, the Alternate Fire uses up "charges" gained from killing enemies with the primary fire, with each charge multiplying the damage dealt. The Battacor can store up to 5 charges and all charges are consumed when using the Alternate Fire.
Basmu	Fires two continuous beams of that travel up to 9 meters, chaining up to 5 enemies within a 7 meter radius. The beams deal pure Electricity damage as opposed to the primary fire's Electricity/ Heat damage, and have significantly higher critical multiplier and slightly higher status chance, in exchange for significantly lower critical chance and overall damage.
Bubonico	Burst-fires three shots that detonate on impact in a 7 meter area of effect. Explosive shots deal Viral damage instead of Puncture, Slash, and Toxin, and have much higher critical multiplier and status chance, but with drastically reduced Impact damage and critical chance, and its projectiles have steeper arcing. Consumes 3 rounds of ammunition per shot (9 rounds per burst) and will not function if the player has less than 3 rounds in the magazine.
Buzlok	Launches a beacon that sticks to a surface or enemy. Primary fire shots will then home in on that beacon. The beacon will last for 20 seconds, the target the beacon is attached to dies, or until a new beacon is fired. If the beacon attaches to an enemy, the weapon gains an additive 50% to its critical chance for the duration of the beacon. Consumes 10 rounds of ammunition and will not function if the player has less than 10 rounds in the magazine.
Cedo	Launches a ricocheting glaive that explodes in a 6 meter radius on impacting a surface after each ricochet. Glaive explosion deals Slash and Blast damage instead of Puncture, with drastically higher status chance and the ability to proc Toxin, Cold, Electricity, and Heat, but with drastically lower damage, critical chance, and critical multiplier. Consumes 0 ammunition, but only one glaive can be active at a time.
Cernos Prime	Toggles between Horizontal Spread or Vertical Spread. Both modes have the same stats. By default, the Cernos Prime starts any given mission in Horizontal Spread.
Convectrix	Makes the beams generated by this weapon to spread outwards and sweep back inward, as opposed to focusing inwards when holding down the Primary Fire key/button. The beams will continuously sweep as long as the Alternate Fire key/button is held down. Releasing it will make the beams return to their original position.
Corinth	Fires a grenade that detonates after traveling 20 meters, dealing  Blast damage in an 9.4 meter area of effect with a guaranteed proc. If the shot hits an enemy before it detonates, the shot will instead deal reduced  Impact damage to that enemy with a guaranteed proc, and if it hits a solid object, it will bounce off harmlessly. Both interactions cannot be overcome with punch through. Grenade has much higher damage and status chance at the expense of critical chance and critical multiplier. Consumes 1 round of ammunition.
Corinth Prime	Fires a grenade, and pressing Alternate Fire again will manually detonate the grenade, dealing  Blast damage in an 9.8 meter area of effect with a guaranteed proc. If the shot hits an enemy before it is detonated, the shot will instead deal reduced  Impact damage to that enemy with a guaranteed proc, and if it hits a solid object, it will bounce off harmlessly. Both interactions cannot be overcome with punch through. Grenade has much higher damage and status chance at the expense of critical chance and critical multiplier. Consumes 4 rounds of ammunition.
Ferrox	Throws the Ferrox up to 50 meters, dealing  Electricity damage in a 10 meter area of effect, chaining to any nearby enemies. Every 2 seconds, the Ferrox generates an Electricity pulse that damages enemies (with a very high chance to proc) and passively pulls them closer to the Ferrox. This effect persists until the player retrieves the Ferrox. Reloads 33% of the Ferrox's clip while deployed. The Ferrox will remain where it landed until its wielder moves over to pick it up, or until it automatically returns to the player's hands after 10 seconds if quick thrown or 30 seconds if charged thrown. Throwing the Ferrox does not consume ammunition.
Fulmin	Toggles between Semi-Automatic and Automatic firing modes. Semi-Automatic fires a shotgun-like wide electric projectile with a 1 meter thickness, 3 meter punch through against bodies, and is silent, but has damage falloff, limited range, travel time, and does no bonus damage on headshots. Consumes 10 rounds of ammunition and will not function if the player has less than 10 rounds in the magazine. Automatic fires a continuous stream of lightning that has pinpoint accuracy, faster fire rate, and slightly higher critical multiplier, but with slightly lower critical chance and lower status chance. Unlike other mode-switching Alternate Fires the Fulmin's mode-switching is not instantaneous, taking 1 second to swap between firing modes, and can be interrupted by rolling or using abilities. If used by Wisp, the time to switch between firing modes is reduced to 0.5 seconds, though it can still be interrupted. By default, the Fulmin starts any given mission as a Semi-Automatic.
Grakata Prisma Grakata	When modded with  Wild Frenzy, fires all remaining ammunition in the magazine with increased fire rate. If at least 2 enemies are killed by this fire mode, a portion of ammo consumed is refunded upon reloading. Duration of the burst is affected by Magazine size and can be increased or decreased accordingly. In the event that the player gains infinite ammunition (such as the appropriate Reactant Buff), the burst will only last the Grakata's maximum Magazine size. Damage, Critical stats, and status chance from the burst is identical compared to the primary fire. However, abilities and mods that affect fire rate have no effect on this alternate fire mode. Refunded ammo is transferred directly to the Grakata's ammo pool.
Harpak	Fires a harpoon that pulls any enemy it connects with close to the player and causes a guaranteed Puncture proc. If  Exposing Harpoon is installed and an enemy is hit with the harpoon, the Harpak will gain an additive bonus to Critical Chance which lasts for 10 seconds. This bonus can be refreshed by hooking another enemy. Consumes 1 round of ammunition and requires a brief charging period before it can fire. Has a limited range of 50 meters.
Hind	Fires a single round as opposed to the primary fire's 5-round burst. The semi-automatic fire has increased damage, critical chance, and critical multiplier, at the expense of fire rate and status chance.
Javlok	Throws the Javlok up to 50 meters, dealing  Impact damage to any enemy it directly hits and  Heat damage in a 6.9 meter explosion. Reloads 33% of the Javlok's clip while deployed. The Javlok will remain where it landed until its wielder moves over to pick it up, or until it automatically returns to the player's hands after 6 seconds. Explosion consumes all ammo in the magazine.
Komorex	Possesses an adjustable, scoped zoom of two levels while aiming down sights. The first zoom has a scoped distance of 2.0x, reduces recoil by 50%, and adds a 2 meter punch through. The second zoom has a scoped distance of 3.5x, adds 100% damage to shots, produces a 3 meter explosion on impact dealing Viral damage, and reduces fire rate by 75%.
Kuva Bramma	Causes fired arrows to prematurely detonate mid-flight.
Kuva Hind	Toggles between Burst, Semi-Automatic, and Automatic firing modes in that order. While the damage stays unchanged across all three firing modes, their critical chance, critical multiplier, status chance, and fire rate stats are changed accordingly: Burst-Fire is balanced, Semi-Automatic is geared towards critical stats with low fire rate, and Automatic is geared towards status chance with high fire rate. Semi-Automatic does three times the damage of a single bullet from Burst-Fire or Automatic, but consumes 3 rounds of ammunition and will not function if the player has less than 3 rounds in the magazine. By default, the Kuva Hind starts any given mission as a Burst-Fire.
Lanka	Possesses an adjustable, scoped zoom of three levels while aiming down sights. The first zoom has a scoped distance of 3.0x and additively increases critical chance by 20%. The second zoom has a scoped distance of 5.0x and additively increases critical chance by 30%. The third zoom has a scoped distance of 8.0x and additively increases critical chance by 50%.
Mutalist Quanta	Launches a slow-moving cuboid orb that deals Radiation damage to any enemy it makes contact with, and has a guaranteed chance to proc. It will remain in the air for 9 seconds then detonate, dealing Toxin damage in an 8 meter area of effect. The orb will bounce off surfaces and can be manipulated with melee attacks. Shots fired at the orb will pass through and gain bonuses to damage, critical chance, and critical multiplier. Can only have a maximum of 2 orbs active. If  Bursting Mass is installed, the orb will instead absorb incoming damage and, should 9 seconds elapse or the Alternate Fire button is pressed again, explode, dealing all absorbed damage in a 15 meter area of effect. The innate Toxin explosion is unaffected by this mod. Only 1 orb can be active with this mod equipped. Consumes 15 rounds of ammunition and will not function if the player has less than 15 rounds in the magazine.
Nagantaka	Fires all remaining ammunition in the magazine as a quick burst, forcing the player to reload afterwards. Duration of the burst is affected by Magazine size and can be increased or decreased accordingly. In the event that the player gains infinite ammunition (such as the appropriate Reactant Buff), the burst will only last the Nagantaka's maximum Magazine size. Burst has higher fire rate but is otherwise identical to the primary fire.
Panthera Panthera Prime	Levitates a spinning sawblade that continuously damages enemies who make contact with it and staggers them. Will only consume ammo every second it deals damage when active. Has a limited range of 6 meters for Panthera and 8 meters for Panthera Prime.
Paracyst	Fires a harpoon that pulls any enemy it connects with close to the player and deals damage over time. Consumes 1 round of ammunition and requires a brief charging period before it can fire. Has a limited range of 50 meters.
Penta Carmine Penta Secura Penta	Detonates any active primary fire grenade(s), dealing Blast damage in an area of effect. Only 5 grenades can be active at any given time.
Phantasma	Launches a plasma bomb that detonates on impact, dealing Radiation and Impact damage in an area of effect. Upon exploding, 5 plasma bomblets will be scattered into the air. These bomblets will then home into nearby targets, dealing Impact damage on direct contact with a target, and then exploding to deal Radiation damage. The plasma bomb can be charged by holding down the Alternate Fire button, consuming additional ammunition and proportionally increasing both the damage dealt by the initial explosion and the plasma bomblets. Consumes anywhere from 1 ammo, to the entire magazine, depending on how long the Alternate Fire button is held.
Quanta Quanta Vandal	Launches a slow-moving cube that detonates on the first surface or enemy it comes in contact with, dealing Blast damage. Otherwise, it will remain in the air for 9 seconds then detonate, dealing damage in an area of effect. The cube can be manually detonated by attacking it, making it deal extra damage. Consumes 10 rounds of ammunition and will not function if the player has less than 10 rounds in the magazine.
Quellor	Charges a powerful beam. The beam deals higher Cold and Impact damage as opposed to the primary fire's Puncture damage, with higher critical chance, critical multiplier, accuracy, and infinite punch through against bodies, and has a guaranteed Impact proc, at the expense of status chance, has damage falloff between 9-18 meters, and limited max range of 20 meters. Consumes 50 rounds of ammunition and requires a brief charging period before it can fire and will not function if the player has less than 50 rounds in the magazine.
Rubico	Possesses an adjustable, scoped zoom of two levels while aiming down sights. The first zoom has a scoped distance of 3.5x and additively increases critical multiplier by 35%. The second zoom has a scoped distance of 6.0x and additively increases critical multiplier by 50%.
Rubico Prime	Possesses an adjustable, scoped zoom of two levels while aiming down sights. The first zoom has a scoped distance of 2.5x and additively increases critical multiplier by 35%. The second zoom has a scoped distance of 5.0x and additively increases critical multiplier by 50%.
Scourge	Throws the Scourge up to 50 meters, dealing  Impact damage to any enemy it directly hits and  Corrosive damage in a 7 meter area of effect. Every few seconds, the Scourge will generate a pulse that creates Magnetize bubbles on the heads of nearby enemies, increasing the likelihood of scoring headshots. This effect persists until the player retrieves the Scourge. Reloads 33% of the Scourge's clip while deployed. The Scourge will remain where it landed until its wielder moves over to pick it up, or until it automatically returns to the player's hands after 20 seconds. Throwing the Scourge does not consume ammunition.
Simulor Synoid Simulor	Detonates any active orb(s), dealing Electricity damage in an area of effect and causing a guaranteed proc. Otherwise the orb(s) will remain in the air for 8 seconds then detonate by themselves.
Snipetron	Possesses an adjustable, scoped zoom of two levels while aiming down sights. The first zoom has a scoped distance of 2.5x and additively increases headshot damage by 25%. The second zoom has a scoped distance of 6.0x and additively increases headshot damage by 50%.
Snipetron Vandal	Possesses an adjustable, scoped zoom of two levels while aiming down sights. The first zoom has a scoped distance of 2.5x and additively increases headshot damage by 25%. The second zoom has a scoped distance of 6.0x and additively increases headshot damage by 50%.
Stahlta	Charges an irridiated metal rod that explodes in a 7.2 meter radius after 0.4 seconds on impacting a surface with significantly higher damage, added Radiation damage, critical chance, critical multiplier, and status chance, at the expense of punch through. Consumes 20 rounds of ammunition and will not function if the player has less than 20 rounds in the magazine.
Stradavar Stradavar Prime	Toggles between Automatic and Semi-Automatic firing modes. The Semi-Automatic firing mode has higher damage, critical chance, and status chance over the Automatic, at the expense of fire rate. By default, the Stradavar starts any given mission as an Automatic.
Tenora	Fires a charged shot that, compared to its primary fire, has increased critical chance and critical multiplier in exchange for reduced status chance. Consumes 10 rounds of ammunition and requires a brief charging period before it can fire and will not function if the player has less than 10 rounds in the magazine. If used by Octavia, headshot kills with the alternate fire has 20% chance to instantly refill the Tenora's magazine.
Tiberon Prime	Toggles between Burst, Semi-Automatic, and Automatic firing modes in that order. While the damage stays unchanged across all three firing modes, their critical chance, critical multiplier, and status chance stats are changed accordingly: Burst-Fire is balanced, Semi-Automatic is geared towards critical stats, and Automatic is geared towards status chance. By default, the Tiberon Prime starts any given mission as a Burst-Fire.
Trumna	Launches a bouncing grenade that explodes in a 6 meter radius on impacting a surface after each bounce, with significantly higher damage, critical chance, critical multiplier, and status chance. Consumes 0 ammunition. Rather than consuming ammunition, the Alternate Fire uses a charge gauge gained from killing enemies with the primary fire, and cannot fire without a full gauge after 5 primary fire kills.
Vectis	Possesses an adjustable, scoped zoom of two levels while aiming down sights. The first zoom has a scoped distance of 3.0x and additively increases headshot damage by 30%. The second zoom has a scoped distance of 4.5x and additively increases headshot damage by 50%.
Vectis Prime	Possesses an adjustable, scoped zoom of two levels while aiming down sights. The first zoom has a scoped distance of 3.5x and additively increases headshot damage by 40%. The second zoom has a scoped distance of 6.0x and additively increases headshot damage by 60%.
Veldt	Possesses an adjustable, unscoped zoom of two levels while aiming down sights.
Vulkar Vulkar Wraith	Possesses an adjustable, scoped zoom of three levels while aiming down sights. The first zoom has a scoped distance of 2.5x and additively increases headshot damage by 35%. The second zoom has a scoped distance of 4.0x and additively increases headshot damage by 55%. The third zoom has a scoped distance of 8.0x and additively increases headshot damage by 70%.
Zarr	Toggles between Cannon and Barrage firing modes. Cannon mode fires an explosive projectile in an arc that explodes on impact, dealing Blast damage in an area of effect and splitting into 6 projectiles that spread from point of impact, each dealing additional Blast damage. Barrage mode works like a shotgun, shooting 6 pellets in a wide spread, each dealing 1/3 of the Zarr's base damage as Physical Damage. There is no damage fall-off with distance; but pellets will deal no damage at all if target is further than ~15 in-game meters away. By default, the Zarr starts any given mission in Cannon Mode.
Zenith	Launches the Zenith's disc, where upon landing it will make any enemy visible through walls, provided the enemy is within a ~20 in-game meter radius of the disc. The disc itself will last until the weapon is reloaded, though players can cancel the disc and its bonuses early via the Alternate Fire button. While the disc is out, the Zenith switches from automatic fire to semi-automatic fire and gains infinite punch through for the duration of the disc, effectively allowing the player to shoot through walls. Additionally, the Zenith gains increased damage, and its stats shift from Slash-oriented damage and status chance, to Puncture-oriented damage and critical chance and critical multiplier. While launching or cancelling the disc does not consume ammo, the Zenith will consume 3 rounds per shot while the disc is active.

Secondary Weapons

Weapon	Alternate Fire
Arca Scisco	Possesses an adjustable, scoped zoom of two levels while aiming down sights. The first zoom has a scoped distance of 2.0x. The second zoom has a scoped distance of 4.0x. Zooming in regardless of Zoom levels will show the current amount of Target Analysis stacks active (up to a maximum of 5), and the 2-second duration of the overall buff. If the duration expires, one stack is lost.
Athodai	Fires all remaining ammunition in the magazine as a quick burst, forcing the player to reload afterwards. Duration of the burst is affected by Magazine size and can be increased or decreased accordingly. The burst deals higher Heat damage, with higher status chance and accuracy, and added 2 meter thickness and 2 meter punch through, at the expense of Puncture damage and critical chance, a limited range of 12 meters, and the player cannot zoom in while burst-firing. Alternate Fire will not function under the effects of any infinite ammo buff (Overdrive from primary fire headshot kills,  Arcane Pistoleer, Reactant Buff), instead firing a single round.
Azima	Ejects its magazine, where after it comes to a rest it hovers above the ground and acts as a turret, firing in a cross-shaped pattern that rotates clockwise until all ammunition is expended. Multiple instances of the magazine-turret can be active simultaneously. Once the turret expends all its ammunition it explodes, dealing Blast damage in an area of effect. Consumes all ammunition in the Azima's magazine, forcing the player to reload afterwards.
Castanas Sancti Castanas	Detonates any active charge(s), dealing Electricity damage in an area of effect and causing a guaranteed proc. Only 6 charges can be active at any given time. Throwing a charge when 6 charges are already out will cause the earliest-thrown charge to detonate prematurely.
Cyanex	Fires all remaining ammunition in the magazine as a quick burst, forcing the player to reload afterwards. Duration of the burst is affected by Magazine size and can be increased or decreased accordingly. In the event that the player gains infinite ammunition (such as the appropriate Reactant Buff), the burst will only last the Cyanex's maximum magazine size. Critical chance, critical multiplier, and status chance from the burst is identical compared to the primary fire but it loses both the innate Gas damage and homing properties in exchange for slightly lower Slash/ Puncture-focused physical damage, improved accuracy, and reduced recoil.
Euphona Prime	Fires a spread of projectiles, as opposed to the primary fire's focused shot. By comparison, the secondary fire primarily deals  Slash damage with very high status chance but severe damage falloff even at close range, whereas its primary fire shoots a long-ranged focused shot that primarily deals  Impact damage and has a high critical chance. Consumes 1 round of ammunition.
Fusilai	Throws a horizontal spread of 3 knives. Each knife deals the same base damage as the primary fire, but has reduced fire rate and drastically reduced critical chance. Although the Arsenal display shows an increase to status chance, this is actually spread across all 3 knives, thus the status chance per knife is lower than it appears. Consumes 3 rounds of ammunition and will not function if the player has less than 3 rounds in the magazine.
Hystrix	Cycles between Toxin, Heat, Electricity, or Cold elemental quills in that order. Quills apply a guaranteed proc of the selected element. Critical chance, critical multiplier, and status chance across all four quill types are unchanged, though the Heat and Electricity quills deal slightly more physical damage. By default, the Hystrix starts any given mission using Toxin Quills.
Kulstar	Manually detonates any airborne torpedoes, dealing Blast damage in an area of effect and launching 3 bomblets that spread from the point of detonation. Will only function if there are any torpedoes airborne.
Kuva Kraken	Fires all remaining ammunition in the magazine as a quick burst, forcing the player to reload afterwards. Duration of the burst is affected by Magazine size and can be increased or decreased accordingly. In the event that the player gains infinite ammunition (such as the appropriate Reactant Buff), the burst will only last the Kuva Kraken's maximum magazine size. Damage, critical chance, critical multiplier, and status chance from the burst is identical compared to the primary fire, but it suffers from reduced accuracy, and the player cannot zoom in while burst-firing.
Pandero	Fires all remaining ammunition in the magazine as a quick burst, forcing the player to reload afterwards. Duration of the burst is affected by Magazine size and can be increased or decreased accordingly. In the event that the player gains infinite ammunition (such as the appropriate Reactant Buff), the burst will only last the Pandero's maximum magazine size. Damage, critical chance, critical multiplier, and status chance from the burst is identical compared to the primary fire but it suffers from high recoil and reduced accuracy, and the player cannot zoom in while burst-firing. If used by Octavia, headshot kills with the alternate fire increases reload speed by 20%.
Sepulcrum	Toggles between burst-fire and lock-on modes. Burst-fire shoots two rounds per shot that explode in a 1.6 meter radius. Lock-on mode allows targeting up to 5 enemies before firing with the primary fire button, releasing seeking missiles with higher damage, critical chance, critical multiplier, and status chance, and an explosion radius of 3 meters. Consumes 0 ammunition and requires locked-on targets before it can fire. Rather than consuming ammunition, the Alternate Fire uses a charge gauge gained from killing enemies with the primary fire, and cannot toggle without a full gauge after 5 primary fire kills.
Stug	Charges a single, more powerful Corrosive blob. Only stack up to 6 blobs in a single area. Stacking additional blobs will only refresh its duration. Consumes up to 6 rounds of ammunition.
Talons	Detonates any active charge(s), dealing Blast damage in an area of effect and causing a guaranteed Puncture proc. Only 8 charges can be active at any given time. Throwing a charge when 8 charges are already out will cause the earliest-thrown charge to detonate prematurely.

Arch-guns

Weapon	Alternate Fire
Cortege	Releases a trio of grenades that explode 4 meter radius on impacting a surface while leaving lingering flames that last for 10 seconds with significantly higher Blast damage instead of Heat damage, critical chance, and critical multiplier, but with reduced status chance per projectile. Consumes 0 ammunition. Rather than consuming ammunition, the Alternate Fire uses a charge gauge gained from killing enemies with the primary fire, and cannot fire without a full gauge after 5 primary fire kills.
Larkspur	Toggles between Held and Charge firing modes. Held fires a continuous beam that travels up to 40 (atmospheric mode) / 320 (archwing mode) meters and chains up to 3 enemies within a 6 (atmospheric mode) / 48 (archwing mode) meter radius, with extremely high status chance. Charge charges up an energy grenade that explodes in an 8 meter radius on impacting a surface, with significantly higher damage, added Blast damage, critical chance, critical multiplier, pinpoint accuracy, guaranteed knockdown proc on the projectile, and infinite punch through on bodies, at some expense to status chance. Consumes 10 rounds of ammunition and will not function if the player has less than 10 rounds in the magazine, and if the Larkspur is used in Ground Combat the weapon will automatically reload. Firing in Ground Combat will also push the wielder back a short distance. By default, the Larkspur starts any given mission as Held.
Mausolon	Charges an powerful beam that explodes in a 8 meter radius on impacting a surface with significantly higher damage, critical chance, critical multiplier, and status chance, but with higher radial damage falloff. Consumes 0 ammunition and requires a brief charging period before it can fire. Rather than consuming ammunition, the Alternate Fire uses a charge gauge gained from killing enemies with the primary fire, and cannot fire without a full gauge after 5 primary fire kills.
Morgha	Releases a single, slow moving grenade that detonates after traveling 14 meters and bounces off surfaces and enemies, exploding in a 12 meter radius, with significantly higher damage, added physical damage, critical chance, critical multiplier, and status chance, but with higher radial damage falloff. Consumes 0 ammunition. Rather than consuming ammunition, the Alternate Fire uses a charge gauge gained from killing enemies with the primary fire, and cannot fire without a full gauge after 5 primary fire kills.

Patch History

Update 17.0

• Aiming 'alt fire' weapons is here! Players can now aim down sights with weapons with an alternate fire option. Activating ‘alt fire’ options has a default binding of Mouse Wheel 3