Zhuge

This devastating automatic crossbow is the perfect marriage of ancient Earth weaponry and Tenno technology.

The Zhuge is a Tenno automatic crossbow. It boasts impressive damage that is complemented by its very high status chance, limited by its projectile nature and very slow fire rate.

Characteristics[edit | edit source]

This weapon deals primarily Puncture damage.

Advantages:

Tied with Panthera/ Panthera Prime for the highest base damage of all fully automatic weapons.
- High Puncture damage – effective against armor.
High critical chance.
Very high status chance.
High base accuracy.
Very ammo efficient.
- High ammo reserve for its magazine size.
- Uses rifle ammo pickups instead of the scarcer sniper ammo pickups.
Silent.
On kill, bodies will follow the bolt that killed them, damaging anyone in their path and pinning the corpse to walls.
Innate polarity.
Can use the bow-exclusive Thunderbolt mod.
Counts as a bow in regards to fire rate mods, doubling the fire rate bonus.

Disadvantages:

Low Impact damage – less effective against shields.
Low reload speed.
Projectiles have travel time.
Third lowest fire rate of all fully automatic weapons, after Attica/ Panthera Prime and Panthera.

Comparisons:

Zhuge, compared to Zhuge Prime:
- Higher base damage (100.0 vs. 50.0)
  - Lower Impact damage (5.0 vs. 10.0)
  - Higher Puncture damage (75.0 vs. 22.5)
  - Higher Slash damage (20.0 vs. 17.5)
- Lower critical chance (20% vs. 26%)
- Higher status chance (35% vs. 30%)
- Lower fire rate (4.17 rounds/sec vs. 5.5 rounds/sec)
- Smaller magazine (20 rounds vs. 30 rounds)
- Larger max ammo capacity (540 rounds vs. 270 rounds)
- Faster reload speed (2.5 s vs. 3 s)
- Different polarities ( vs. )
- Lower Mastery Rank required (10 vs. 14)
- Higher disposition (1.2 vs. 1.15)

Acquisition[edit | edit source]

The Zhuge's blueprint can be purchased from the Market.

Manufacturing Requirements
20,000	2,800	900	2	2	Time: 12 hrs
20,000	2,800	900	2	2	Rush: 30
Market Price: 125			Blueprints Price:20,000

Notes[edit | edit source]

Can be used on bow-only Sortie missions.

Tips[edit | edit source]

While possessing an Auto trigger, the Zhuge is best used when fired in bursts to better aim shots and manage its small magazine. On the other hand, its automatic fire combined with its native knockback makes it good when strafing against multiple enemies, or shooting a single tough enemy multiple times.
Thunderbolt synergizes well with the Zhuge due to the weapon's magazine size and automatic trigger, giving it a very high chance of triggering explosions within a shorter amount of time than conventional bows. This makes the Zhuge more proficient at crowd-control than single-shot bows like the Dread, with its full-auto fire allowing one to strafe an area with explosive bolts to deal damage against multiple enemies.

Trivia[edit | edit source]

The Zhuge was originally introduced in Warframe China as a timed-exclusive item, alongside the Ninkondi and Spira.
The Zhuge is named after the Chinese word for the repeating crossbow, Zhūgé nǔ (諸葛弩), literally meaning "the Zhuge [Liang] crossbow", in turn named after its purported inventor Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang was a Chinese chancellor that lived during the Three Kingdoms Period of China, and is considered one of the greatest strategists of the era.
The Zhuge is the fourth crossbow introduced in the game, after the Attica and Ballistica/ Rakta Ballistica.