The Boltok Pistol was the standard-issue sidearm of the Locust, specifically the Drones. The pistol continues the Locust weapon-design philosophy of creating weapons with an emphasis towards brute force.
History[edit | edit source]
It is a high-caliber; double-action revolver with a 6-round capacity, a side swing chamber, and an enclosed hammer. It is heavier; slower to fire, and holds half as much ammunition as the COG-issue Snub Pistol, but does unequivocally more damage per shot and has exceptional stopping power.
The Boltok is used mostly by the Locust and can cause a significant amount of damage. The Boltok fires significantly slower than the Snub, but it packs an incredible amount of power. A single shot from the Boltok was capable of decapitating a target, a testament to its stopping power.
There were specific Drone types that wielded the Boltok. It was mostly used by the Bolter, a class of Drone exclusively armed with the weapon,[2] but sometimes was also used by the Grenadier class, Theron or Queen's Guards. Even the famed General RAAM used the weapon to execute a COG prisoner in the Hollows.[3]
It was soon adopted by many Gears in the COG, chosen for its accuracy and power. Marcus Fenix; Augustus Cole, Dominic Santiago, Clayton Carmine, and Victor Hoffman were just some of the Gears that used a Boltok as their chosen sidearm.
During the Destruction of Halvo Bay; Colonel Ezra Loomis carried the Boltok as his personal side-arm, using it to great effect to kill a Locust Drone that was attacking Augustus Cole, kill a Boomer with a surprise head-shot, and execute General Karn after his defeat.
A Bolter Drone with the Boltok.
Use[edit | edit source]
The Boltok can be zoomed in to achieve better accuracy at longer distances. Shooting enemies in the head 2-3 times will result in a headshot. If playing in Arcade or Horde 2.0 with the Super Reload Mutator on, then a single shot to the head of most enemies will instantly take their head off. This is an excellent weapon to pair with a Boom Shield or Meat Shield; a close range weapon like the Retro Lancer or Sawed-Off/Gnasher, or a long range weapon like the Longshot, especially to finish off an enemy hit with the sniper rifle.
Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]
- Instead of a damage boost, the Boltok's rate of fire is increased if a player achieves a perfect active reload.
- The execution of the Boltok is as follows: the user flips the Boltok; grabs the muzzle, slams the handle on the enemy's head, flips the gun again, and spins it around the finger - in the style of a Gunslinger, despite the apparent lack of a trigger guard.
- In the Gears of War 3 demo, it is shown that the Armored Kantus dual-wields Boltok Pistols. However, in the actual release, he dual-wields Gorgon SMGs instead.
- The effect of the Boltok on enemies changes between Gears of War 1 & 2. In Gears 1, the kill shot can 'pop' the target's torso. In Gears 2, the weapon can now only pop heads. In Gears of War 3 and 4, however, the 'torso popping' has been re-instated.
- In the first Gears of War, the Boltok's reload animation looks the same as the Snub Pistol.
- The Boltok Pistol is the starting weapon of Leslie "Mac" Macallister in the Escape mode featured in Gears 5.
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Gears of War: Judgment
- RAAM's Shadow
- Gears of War (First appearance)
- Gears of War: Ultimate Edition
- Gears of War 2
- Gears of War 3
- Gears of War 4
- Gears 5
