Chulainn is a unique submachine gun in Borderlands 2 manufactured by Maliwan. It is obtained from the mission Clan War: Zafords vs. Hodunks located in The Dust, by siding with the Zaford family.
Special Weapon Effects
Riastrad! – Fires shock rounds which also do bonus slag damage. Applies slag to the wielder as long as the weapon is equipped, which will last a couple of seconds after swapping weapons. Increased damage, rate of fire, magazine size and reload speed. Reduced accuracy and stability.
Usage & Description
The Chulainn is a unique Maliwan submachine gun that combines slag and shock elements into one weapon, a feature unseen on any other weapon in the game until the introduction of the Florentine. The benefits of this combination are obvious, potentially doubling or even tripling the damage output of the weapon in any given combat situation, provided the target is vulnerable to slag.
While the end result of the slag + shock effect is obvious, the mechanism used to produce it is not immediately apparent, and brings with it an additional, powerful boost to the weapon. The combined slag and shock elemental alignment of the weapon is accomplished by firing a standard shock elemental projectile and giving it a secondary half-damage slag explosion on impact, similar to the effect of a Maliwan Plasma Caster. Importantly, the base Shock damage of the projectile itself is not reduced to account for this. This means that the Chulainn does 50% more damage than a same level Maliwan SMG even before slag effects are applied.
Though it boasts high damage and good combat capabilities, the Chulainn has a significant drawback as well. So long as the weapon is equipped and active, the character holding it will become slagged, and will remain so until the weapon is put away. This makes the wielder more vulnerable and fragile, especially in UVHM, but the Chulainn's high damage provides something of a defense in itself, hopefully allowing the wielder to eliminate hostiles much more quickly and thus prevent damage before it can occur. Of note though is the fact that the slag effect can persist for several seconds after the weapon has been put away, depending on when the slagging was initiated.
Notes
- The purple fog indicating the user is slagged does not appear until a shot is fired.
- The Chulainn can be a devastating weapon in the hands of Gaige, especially when coupled with her Electrical Burn skill, which would give it incendiary, electrical and slag damage. Because slag damage has a 3x multiplier in Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode, combining the Chulainn with stacks of Anarchy can make Gaige extremely powerful against any enemy not immune to slag.
- A Shift Code for St. Patrick's Day on March 14, 2013 (and March 14, 2014), unlocked new green skins for each character, and placed a version of the Chulainn in the inventory of the first character to be loaded after the code was redeemed. This weapon was of the same level as the character that gained it.
- Prior to November 21st, 2013, the Chulainn was the only Maliwan SMG in Borderlands 2 to use the Maliwan "Type B" SMG frame, due to a bug in the loot generation tables for Maliwan SMGs. Because frame type determines rarity (or more accurately can override it), the Chulainn was also the only blue-rarity Maliwan SMG in Borderlands 2.[1] The November 21st patch fixed this, allowing for the generation of normal blue-rarity SMGs, including the Crit.[2]
Trivia
- The weapon and its flavor text refer to the Irish hero Cú Chulainn. He was known for his battle frenzy, or ríastrad, which contributed to his early demise. In further reference to this, the magazine bears an image of a raven, which is the Irish symbol of unexpected death.
- Mick Zaford claims that the Chulainn is a "Family Heirloom".
References
- ↑ Blue Rarity Maliwan Smgs - Gearbox Forums
- ↑ Xbox 360 Update / Hot Fix Information - Gearbox Software
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