Backstories
Ratchet & Clank
Ratchet is a Lombax born on the planet Fastoon. Like Superman, he was sent to a different galaxy when Emperor Tachyon attacked the Lombaxes. Growing up on the planet Veldin, he dreamed of exploring the galaxy. In his garage, he created a Ship out of scrap metal (held by gum and rubber bands) to hopefully explore space.
Clank (real name XJ-0461) was a small Sentry-bot robot on the planet Quartu. Being seen as a manufacturing error, he was attacked by his ‘brethren’ moments after his creation. He escaped, but before doing so overheard the plans of Drek to create a new planet using pieces of other planets. Upon escaping his ship was shot down and crash landed onto Veldin, and was discovered by Ratchet. When Clank told him about Drek's plan and his need to find the hero Captain Qwark, the two began their long found friendship and their starts on becoming heroes.
Jak and Daxter
Jak was born to the Grand House of Mar in Haven City as a prince. After his father was betrayed, Jak was considered an orphan and left on the city streets. He was eventually found by The Underground who hoped to use him to restore the House of Mar. But an older Jak from a different timeline kind of messed things up. Eventually the young Jak will be sent to the past to grow up in Sandover Village.
It is there that he met Daxter, his best friend. Nothing much is known about Daxter except he was human before he became the creature we see today. That is because when the two sneaked off to Misty Island without permission Daxter fell into a Dark Eco Silo and became an ottsel (a cross between an otter and a weasel). The only way to change Daxter back was to go north to find a Dark Eco expert.
A lot of things happened that prevented Daxter from turning back and since then, the two have been virtually inseparable.
Weapons
In case you were wondering...
Both load outs are based mostly on their appearance in Playstation All Stars Battle Royale. Anyone familiar with either series knows that there are a LOT more weapons the two use (well mostly just Ratchet and Clank), and we realize that the two teams canonically possess far more weapons than the ones listed here, but we want to keep this short, because there are a metric butt-ton of weapons to go over that we don’t want to flood this page with. We will, however, list some of the more prominent and notable weapons outside of PSAS to have our bases covered.
Ratchet & Clank
Wrench: The wrench is often used as a melee weapon. His current version is the OmniWrench Millennium 12. It is made of Ultra-Light Teratannium and fitted with a hyper grip handle. Besides being a weapon, it also has the Kinetic Tether, which allows the head of the wrench to come off and attach to different objects. Once attached, the wrench can be used to turn or move objects. It also allows Ratchet to pick up objects and throw them. And it can home in on enemies when thrown.
Sonic Eruptor: The Sonic Eruptor is a weapon that aids the user by blasting a powerful sound wave that harm enemies. Its form is that of a small slug-like creature that burps to create the sound wave. The more puffed out its cheeks are, the more powerful the sound blast. The Super Sonic Version has twice the power and range of the original while the Alpha Sonic Version is stronger and wider than the original with the addition of green Napalm sticking to the opponent.
Plasma Striker: The Plasma Striker is a crossbow that functions like a sniper rifle. With the addition of an experimental bioscope, it can mark an enemy's weak spot. When upgraded to a Plasma Slayer, it is significantly stronger and can pierce armor. It is also capable of hitting more than one target with one shot.
Lightning Ravager: The Lightning Ravager is an upgrade of the Shock Ravager. As the Shock Ravager, it is an electric whip that delivers a painful shock to anything it touches. The Shock Ravager featured "Quantum Chaining", which shoot searing bolts of electricity from the whip at enemies that jump from one to another. It also fires a small electric shockwave and can get behind enemy's shields. The Lightning Ravager does all this at a superior range.
Warmonger: The Warmonger is a Terraklon revolving rocket launcher in All 4 One. It can shoot two rockets per shot. It also has three upgrades. The Elite Warmonger has more missiles than the original. The Alpha Warmonger is more powerful, has a bigger blast radius and can fire five rockets at once, at the price of a slower Rate of fire. The Peacemaker can also fire shrapnel to damage nearby enemies and be upgraded to include Heat-Seeking options.
Mr. Zurkon: Mr. Zurkon is a small, hovering synthenoid from GrummelNet as part of their basic weapon line. He aids his user in battle by shooting at enemies and laying down cover fire for Ratchet with a mounted laser blaster. He also taunts his enemies with oh-so-lovable one-liners. In R&C Future: Tools of Destruction, four can be deployed at once. It can also be upgraded into multiple versions. Zurkon the Destroyer has increased stats and occasionally fires a powerful bolt of explosive plasma at the enemies. The Elite Mr. Zurkon lasts longer and has a kamikaze mode. And the Alpha Zurkon is more powerful, sometimes shoots rockets, and explodes when dying. In Into the Nexus, Ratchet can call in Mr. Zurkon’s family.
Constructo Pistol: The Constructo Pistol is the main firearm in the Constructo weapons line. It can fire either a single powerful round or several rounds at once. In addition it can be charged to fire a more powerful blast. All this has to be chosen by the user as it is very customizable. It can also be upgraded to the Mega Constructo Pistol and the Omega Constructo Pistol. Each one is the same as the last but more powerful.
Agents Of Doom: The Agents Of Doom, also known as the Glove of Doom, is a Gadgetron weapon that launches a round glass ball. This ball will spawn four small kamikaze robots that home in on enemies and explode on contact. They can be upgraded to fire small rockets and lasers, but only two of these variants can be sent out at once. The Gold Glove of Doom upgrade creates larger and faster agents that create bigger explosions. The Agents of Dread upgrade spawns 4 robots with missile launchers on their backs that can fly with jetpacks. Once out of ammo, they would get close to the enemy and explode. Some models don't include this option though.
Buzz Blades: The Buzz Blades shoot lethal saw blades which ricochet off of enemies and almost any surface. After a saw blade hits an enemy, it curves back onto that enemy for multiple hits. This can be upgraded to the Doom Blades. Unlike the previous version, these blades are soaked in a high molarity, Raritanium-piercing hydro chloro biocidic acid that will continue damaging enemies long after the blade has found its mark.
Tesla Spikes: The Tesla Spike is a weapon that deploys spikes… Obviously. These spikes shock enemies when they cross the barrier. If Ratchet throws multiple spikes, it will create a web of electricity that increases the area of coverage. When upgraded to the Storm Spikes, it can be shot farther. And when it shocks an enemy, it will shock nearby enemies as well.
Other notable weapons not in PSAS include:
The Fusion Grenades are produced by a glove that Ratchet wears on his hand. Said grenades produce explosions potent enough to wipe out large buildings and city blocks. (Unfortunately the calculation is now lost, but you can see it still listed as Multi-city block level on the OBD) Well… real world buildings and city blocks, because the ones in the R&C universe are reinforced with Nanotech and thus too durable to be destroyed by such an explosion. In other words:
The Negotiator is a missile-based launcher in the Grummelnet line of weapons. It fires two missiles at once capable of wiping out large groups of enemies. The fully upgraded version is the Judicator, which fires three missiles simultaneously, packs a bigger punch, has a higher rate of fire, and releases napalm on impact. As the Grummelnet salesman puts it, it’s the quickest way to win any argument.
The Alpha Cannon is a weapon so powerful it is often mistaken for the long sought-after “Lombax Secret”, according to in-game text. It improves upon the already powerful Alpha Disruptor via an installed “Anti-matter Transfluxor” (pretty sure that’s a made up word) which allows its projectiles to bypass armor and destroy enemies from the inside. The resulting explosion is capable of vaporizing enemies that get caught in its vicinity: “If there are any foes within 12 cubits of the blast radius, rest assured you won't be seeing them in the sequel." Also apparently so powerful it breaks the fourth wall...
Vortex grenade
A bomb that opens up a black hole roughly four times the size of Ratchet. The maxed out version is the Singularity Grenade which creates a larger black hole with a wider area of effect and can create multiple singularities at once.
The Rift Inducer, later upgraded to the Rift Ripper, creates a rift in space-time, as the name suggests. Said rift pulls enemies into another dimension. The Grummelnet variation of this weapon summons a Lovecraftian horror from beyond (affectionately referred to as “Fred”) who pulls enemies into another dimension. Either way, the Rift Inducer is basically a means of BFR.
Ratchet also has several various weapons that allow transmutation into harmless objects or animals such as a symbol monkey toy, snowman, or penguins like the Morph-o-ray/Gold Morph-o ray.
And our personal favorite, the Groovitron...
The results speak for themselves.
(Said above weapon also has a variant called the Golden Groovitron, which has unlimited ammo making it very cheap in a fight)
Ratchet also gets several “ultimate” weapons each game, for example...
RYNO V: The RYNO V is a weapon in the Rip Ya a New One series that is said to be the strongest weapon in the known universe. It releases a large number of rockets towards its target(s). The RYNO V mainly launches hails of bullets in a spraying formation but, in tune with the 1812 Overture, it launches a missile from the center barrel of the gun while the outer barrels spray bullets in a similar fashion to two overlapping miniguns. If upgraded into the Mega RYNO V, it will have more ammo and fire rockets at a faster rate.
RY3NO: A previous version of the RYNO weapon. Its upgraded version the Rynocirator has a unique distinction from the RYNO V, creating a giant ball of energy that explodes in a burst of light instantly disintegrating almost all enemies rather than shooting missiles.
Harbinger: Ratchet’s ultimate weapon in the game Deadlocked. It points to the ground with targeting lasers and then commands an orbital ion cannon to rain fire down on the area. The upgraded version, the Supernova (ironically also the name of one of Jak's weapons) rains down meteor-like objects on the opponent.
Zodiac: An electric weapon that fires a burst of electricity that fries all opponents within site.
In terms of Clank, he’s perfectly capable of wielding any weapon Ratchet can in combat, even doing so in games like All 4 One and Full Frontal assault.
He also has some individual weapons, mainly from Secret Agent Clank. The Tie-a-rangs are tie shaped buzz saw blades thrown at opponents as a projectile attack.The Cufflink Bombs/Wrist Mortars, were basically throwing grenades.The Blowtorch Briefcase/Hellfire Haversack, is a flamethrower in a briefcase.
The Tanglevine Carnation/Kudzu Tangle creates a vicious man eating plant that devours and poisons nearby enemies.The Thunderstorm Umbrella/Lightning Rod, produced bolts of electricity to shock opponents.The Holo-Knuckles/Hardlight Gist produce holographic heavy objects projections from the fists during melee attacks (cinderblocks for example) which deal physical damage to opponents oppon contact.. The hypno watch is a hypnotic device that draws enemies towards it when thrown.
Chronoscepter: The Chronoscepter is a powerful scepter wielded by Clank. The Chronoscepter could manipulate time and fix time anomalies. It can also reverse time and fix broken objects. This ability to reverse time can also be used to reflect enemy projectiles. It also contains Time Bombs, that can slow down time in a specific area.
Finally it should be noted that games like All 4 One show Clank is perfectly capable of using any weapon Ratchet can with just as much efficiency.
Jak and Daxter
Like its name suggests the Morph Gun can morph into different forms capable of producing several different attacks based on the types of “mods” it has been equipped with. There are 4 different lines of modifications Jak can use for this gun, which each line running from different stockpiles of ammunition. These lines are blue, red, purple and yellow mods, which get their names from blue, red, purple and yellow echo respectively (they fuel the ammunition).
In general the red Morph Gun line of weapons focuses on powerful short ranged attacks and has a collective pool of 100 units of red eco ammo. The yellow and blue Morph Gun lines of weapons can both focuses on long range medium power shots and hold 200 units of blue and yellow eco respectively. Finally the dark Morph Gun weapons have devastating power, but have a very limited ammo cap of 15 shots.
Morph Gun Upgrades
--- It should be noted that you can buy several upgrades for Jak’s Morph Gun through the “secrets menu” in Jak 3. This was generally done by collecting precursor orbs in game and then spending them in said menu.
While you could get a few upgrades in Jak 2 through story mission, the bulk of Jak’s weapon upgrades exist in Jak 3 and were unlocked through this menu. Whether you consider being able to upgrade through this manner as “canon” or acceptable could alter the outcome of the fight. TO BE FAIR you cannot access most of the upgrades in Jak 3 until completing specific story missions, and the secrets menu makes a clear distinction between what the game considers” cheats” and general upgrades. For example broken stuff like unlimited echo for light/dark Jak or invulnerability aren’t in the same section as weapon upgrades.
Regardless here’s some Notable upgrades if you want to go down that route.
Red Ammo Capacity: Increases Red ammo capacity to 150.
Blue Ammo Capacity: Increases blue ammo capacity to 300.
Purple Ammo Capacity: Increases purple ammo capacity to 20.
Yellow Ammo Capacity: Increases yellow ammo capacity to 300.
Plasmite RPG Ammo Efficiency: Plasmite Rpg weapon used 8 red ammo instead of 10, per shot.
Needle Laser Ammo Efficiency: Reduces Needle ammo use uses 1.5 unit per shot.
Super Nova Ammo Efficiency: Reduces Super Nova ammo use to 8 ammo per shot.
-There’s also several upgrades that increase weapon damage, duration of certain attacks, radius of specific weapons, ect.
Red Gun Mods
Scatter Gun
The scatter gun is the first weapon in the red Morph Gun line of weapons, and shoots out explosive short-range burst of red eco energy at enemies. The weapon can be upgraded to have an almost instantaneous reload time, and is best used against slow moving or grouped enemies. This weapon takes up 1 shot of red eco ammo whenever it is fired.
Wave Concussor
The wave concussor is the second weapon in the red morph gun weapons mode and creates a circular field of red eco energy around Jak when shot. The weapon is best used as a way knock back large groups of opponents and give Jak some space in a claustrophobic environment. This gun can also be charged, allowing Jak to make larger explosions that can topple bigger enemies. Each shot from this weapon can take up anywhere between 1-5 units of red eco ammo, depending on how long it has been charged.
Plasmite RPG
The Plasmite RPG is the most powerful weapon in the red Morph Gun line of weapons, and specializes in shooting explosive grenades filled with red eco energy. Each grenade fired by this weapon can bounce several feet when they hit wall in order to get around corners or obstacles. This weapon needs to be used sparingly, as it takes up 10 units of red eco ammo each shot.
Yellow Gun Mods
Blaster
The blaster is the first weapon in the yellow Morph Gun line of weapons, and Jak’s Preferred weapon for most combat situations. Because of the weapons elongated barrel and laser sighting, it can instantly lock onto enemies’ dozens of feet away and take them out with single precise shots. Each shot fired from this weapon consumes a single unit of yellow eco ammo.
Beam Reflexor
The Beam Reflexor is the second weapon in the yellow Morph Gun line of weapons, and works similarly to the Blaster Gun, but with one major difference. Unlike the Blaster Gun all the shots fired by this weapon ricochet of the walls, allowing it to be incredibly deadly in an enclosed area. It is important to note that the weapon cannot cause damage to Jak during the ricocheting. Like the Blaster this weapon uses one unit of yellow eco ammo when shoot, but unlike the blaster weapon it will also use an addition unit of yellow ammo each time it gets a successful hit on an enemy.
-Jak himself never seems to get hit by the reflections of these attacks, though that could just be a mechanic.
Gyro Burster
The Gyro Burster is the final and most powerful weapon in the yellow Morph Gun line of weapons. Each time the weapon is fired it shoots a hovering disk drone into the air, which scans the immediate area and shoots dozens of bullets into the enemy. However this weapon uses up 50 units of yellow eco ammo, so it cannot be spammed over and over.
Blue gun mods
Vulcan Fury
The Vulcan Fury has similar targeting abilities and power as the Blaster weapon, but has a significantly higher rate of fire. It is the first weapon in the blue Morph Gun line of weapons and uses one unit of blue eco energy with every shot
Arch Wielder
The Arch Wielder is the second weapon in the blue Morph Gun line of weapons and shoots a large stream of electric energy at an enemy. The stream automatically locks onto an enemy in range and is best used as a crowed clearing weapon. The weapon chews through units of blue eco ammo fairly fast, using more than 1 unit per second.
Needle Laser
The Needle Laser is the most powerful blue Morph Gun weapon and shoots 3 bullets of blue eco energy at the enemy with every shot. Each shot homes into nearby enemies, and can curve in a circular fashion to reach its target. The weapon eats ammo faster than any other weapon Jak owns, consuming at least 2 units of blue eco ammo per second.
Dark gun mods
Peace Maker
The Peace Maker is powered by dark eco, and therefore is one of the most destructive weapons that Jak can wield. Each shot creates a ball of electrically charged dark eco that homes in on enemies and typically kills them in one hit. The Peace Maker is one of Jak’s last resort weapons and uses up 1 unit of dark ammo.
Mass Inverter
The Mass Inverter is the second weapon in the dark Morph Gun series and creates an anti-gravity field around Jak. All enemies caught in this field will float helplessly and are completely open to Jak’s attacks. The mass inverter uses 1 unit of dark energy each time it is shot.
Super Nova
The Super Nova is easily Jak’s most powerful weapon and is his last resort when the tables are turned against him. The Super Nova shoots a miniature nuclear warhead that instantly incinerates all enemies within the immediate area and obliterates all surrounding obstacles.
-This uses a lot of ammo. Like you can only use it 1-3 depending on upgrades and if you don’t decide to use other dark mod weapons.
Gunstaff
The Gunstaff was originally invented by Keira to act as a reliable close combat weapon for Jak to use. It has several gun attachments and upgrades, including its own version of the Blaster Gun, the Scatter Gun, and the Vulcan Fury. The Gunstaff also has its own unique weapon called the Lobber. It’s pretty much a green eco based grenade launcher.
-Given it’s a different weapon than the Morph Gun, the ammo cache could probably be considered separate from the normal Morph Gun. It also has various upgrades for rate of fire, damage, ETC. The shots from the Gunstaff’s version of Vulcan Fury can ricochet off walls.
Armor
Ratchet & Clank
Ratchet has a lot of armor options, most impressively the Chameleon Armor which reduces damage by 96%. Another popular alternate armor, the Infernox Armor that reduces damage by 80%, and through special temporary versions of the armor gained from crates (similar to a power-up) provide full invincibility.
He’s also consistently worn a set of basic Pilot Armor as his standard armor in most games.
Ratchet’s body is also reinforced with a finite amount of Nanotech, which are basically micro robots that repair his body as he takes damage (this is what the health meter is in game).
He also has several shield devices such as:
Shield Charger/Tesla Barrier: Basically a circular force field that surrounds the user to protect them from harm. It can also shock opponents with arcs of electricity if they got too close.
Haloshield/ultrashield: A deployable shield that can deflect or absorb projectiles. It can also shock/energy blast nearby opponents depending on shots absorbed.
Jak and Daxter
Jak's Armor of Choice is the Armor of Mar. This armor is made of Precursor metal along with a polymer-like mainstay allowing for Jak to fit the armor. Nearly each piece consists of overlapping plating, connected to the body by straps, cuffs, or braces. The Bracers are Arm Guards, the Greaves are shin and in-step guards, a shoulder plate and a breastplate.
Skills & Abilities
Ratchet & Clank
Ratchet has several techniques to use against his enemies. The Comet-Strike is a move that has him throwing the wrench in an arc, making it spin and come back to his hands. The Hyper-Strike is a move that has Ratchet jumping up in the air and slamming the wrench down onto the ground. The attack caused twice as much damage as a regular strike, and it is improved with Clank and the Thruster-Pack.
Clank has a highly modifiable body. With the Heli-Pack, Thruster-Pack or Robo-Wings, Clank can Glide in the air. This is strong enough to also carry Ratchet. Without Ratchet, the Heli-Pack can allow Clank to Fly in the Air. The Hydro-Pack allows Ratchet and Clank to jet propel underwater. He also has the Clank Zapper, which causes him to release a powerful bolt of green electric energy from his antenna.
Clank has learned Clank-Fu, which allows him to perform stealth takedowns or attack using a variety of techniques. Clank Fu Hot Foot uses the Jet Boots to increase the momentum and force of his kick. He can also throw one of his Heli-Pack blades as a throwing weapon. The Hyper-Strike has him doing a Double Axe Handle.
Using the Ultra-Mech Pad, Clank can transform into Giant Clank. There are two versions of Giant Clank: Ultra-Mech is the biggest of the two modes. While transformed, he was enlarged and fitted with a wide array of heavy machinery. He could shoot rockets from his arms, launch energy bombs, knock enemies out cold with one punch, and crush opponents under his huge weight. Not to mention fly. Alpha Clank is much shorter (but still pretty big), but does not require an Ultra-Mech Pad to transform. He attacks using his Fists of Justice. This form also retains the ability to use various Ratchet and Clank weapons.
With Clank's Grapple, Clank extends his arms and use them as grappling hooks. Clank is also a highly skilled secret agent, capable of navigating various traps with ease, as well as use multiple deadly weapons. With the Geo-Laser, Clank can cut through natural surfaces. The Quantum Actuator makes him immune to time anomalies, and he can throw his Heli-Pack blades as boomerangs. The Rift Cracker allows Clank to cross over to the Netherverse. By luring a Nether back to their world, it becomes unstable and sets off a violent reaction. He can also bend Gravity with it, but only in the Netherverse.
Jak and Daxter
Jak's bread and butter is the ability to channel various kinds of eco. These various eco grant Jak power ups. Green Eco can allow Jak to heal himself or others. Blue Eco increases Jak's movement speed.
Red Eco increases his power and strength. Yellow Eco can allow Jak to shoot projectiles of Yellow Eco.. Dark Eco has the property to warp, mutate, and destroy things. It is this Eco that changed Daxter into his current form. Normally Dark Eco would be harmful to Jak until a two year force experimentation changed that.
With enough Dark Eco, he can become Dark Jak. Jak gained highly destructive powers coupled with high durability and strength. With the addition of Claws, they improve Jak's hand to hand fighting. Jak also has a move called Dark Blast. In it Dark Jak jumps into the air and begins spinning. If used Jak will return back to normal. A more powerful option is Dark Bomb, where Dark Jak slams his fist into the ground and creates a large shockwave of dark energy. Like the Dark Blast, it will revert Jak back to normal when in use.
To balance out the Dark Eco, the Precursors gave Jak the ability to gather Light Eco to become Light Jack. This form gives him defensive and regenerative powers as well as the ability to slow down time around Jak and the ability to glide with his wings. And unlike Dark Jak, he can still use his weapons. For specifics, the Flash Freeze allows Jak to slow down time around him while he moves at normal speeds. The Light Flight allows Jak to flap his wings in succession essentially allowing him to flight.
For projectile use, there is Dark Strike, which allows Dark Jak to shoot a large mass of concentrated Dark Eco at his intended target. But if Jak wants to go big, he can use the Dark Giant technique. With it Dark Jak grows 3 times his size and can run faster, jump higher and deal more damage. It can even be used in conjunction with the Dark Bomb or Dark Blast, making those attacks stronger. And logically, the Giant form drains the Dark Eco Faster. Then there’s the Dark Invisibility ability. Using special statues, Dark Jak can become invisible. He can still cast a shadow though. In this form, he can be shot but is unaffected by melee attacks.
Like Jak, Daxter has a Dark form. As Dark Daxter, a huge monster that can pick up and throw enemies, shoot dark eco bolts, and slam his fists on the ground. He could also use a powerful frenzy attack, which was an immensely fast spinning attack which used up dark eco quickly, but could break through several things such as doors, and quickly defeat enemies. Specific moves Dark Daxter can do are the Dark Eco Bolt (fires a ball of dark eco), Frenzy Mode, and Ground Pound (self explained).
The Light Regeneration allows Jak to heal himself as long as he has eco meter. And his Light Shield can create a shield around Jak's Body. This protects him from attacks and can deal minor damage to those who try to physically attack him as long as he has Eco. Jak also has athletic and acrobatic capabilities with much physical prowess. He can perform melee attacks such as a gliding punch and round spin kick, as well as the ability to leap from a rolling position. Not to mention in Frontiers he discovered a way to use the Eco similarly to his Dark and Light forms. This gives him the ability to use Eco Powers.
The Eco Amplifier (using Red Eco) allows Jak to create a ball of Eco that he can detonate by shooting at it. The Eco Construct (using Green Eco) allows Jak to create crystal pillars out of the ground or walls several feet away while standing on green crystalline platforms. This also freezes enemies, but only for a short time. The Eco Rocket Jump (using Yellow Eco), allows him to propel himself to greater heights by firing energy from his hands (even higher over a yellow eco vent).
The Eco Reflexes (using Blue Eco) allows Jak to "Freeze time". It is unknown if this is slowing down time or speeding up Jak, though given the nature of blue eco it’s commonly believed he’s speeding up.. The Eco Teleport (also with Blue eco) allows Jak to switch places with a Precursor Statue in range. It allows him to get past force fields and in theory can also be used like a Substitution Clone Like technique. And the Eco Shield (also using Green Eco) creates a shield that deflects melee and projectile weapons for a short time. Though strong blows to the shield can damage it.
Jak also has some misc “eco skills” which were basically permanent eco based passive upgrades. Some of the important ones are listed below.
Red Eco Skills
Infuse Enemy 1, & 2: Allows Jak to infuse enemies with red echo, causing them to explode when they die.
Amplifier Radiation: Causes the eco amplifier attack to release a cloud of damaging red eco after being set off.
Yellow Eco Skills
Energy Dive: Allows Jak to release a blast of yellow eco energy upon performing a diving tackle attack (think of it like an explosive ground pound).
Aimed Construct Shards: Makes Jak’s construct eco power auto-target enemies.
Rocket Jump Knockback and Explosion: The former skill causes enemies to be pushed back when activating the eco rocket ability. The later damages enemies in the launch zone of the move.
Shield Spikes: Adds spikes to the eco shield, allowing it to damage enemies it comes into contact with.
Blue Eco Skills
Spin Diffuse: Allows Jak to diffuse projectiles that come near him with a spin kick attack.
Spin Reflect: Allows Jak to reflect projectiles back at their owner with a spin kick attack. Creates kind of a blue electric energy around his feet when used. It should be noted Jak could hit back bombs and other more placid projectiles with normal attacks in older games as well.
Green Eco Skills
Daxter doesn't have much going for him. His size allows him to be in areas Jak couldn't, and he share some of the same physical moves as Jak, but simpler. He can spin kick, and whack his enemies with a lunging strike forward using his tail. He is also capable of hanging on to netting, allowing him to climb and swing from place-to-place. Against creatures around his own size, he is a skilled combatant.
Equipment
Jak and Daxter
Jet Board
The Jet Board is a retractable hoverboard given to Jak by his friend Keira in the game, Jak 2. The board allows Jak to travel faster than his normal running speed, over bodies of liquid and grind on rails to reach out of the way areas. In Playstation All-Stars he also uses it for a mid-air dashing attack.
Ratchet and Clank
HoverBoots
A pair of hover boots that allow Ratchet to hover and maneuver around his surroundings in a manner not to unlike Shadow the Hedgehog.
Feats
Ratchet & Clank
Strength & Destructive Power
If you take series artwork at face value Ratchet has been shown to be able to punch through robots barehanded.
Some of Ratchet’s basic weapons are multi-city block level in terms of destructive capacity. Obviously, his more advanced weapons are far stronger than this (especially the RYNO V), but the specifics are vague.
For that matter some of Ratchet’s weapons bypass traditional endurance and defense. Particularly the various transmutation rays.
Ratchet’s Doom Blades are capable of piercing Raritanium, which we know is quite strong thanks to the fact it’s used in Terraflux Armor(said armor boosts reduces damage by 55% in game.)
Ratchet was able to hold off the grip of the giant War Grok monster https://youtu.be/06R8S82H0Bw?t=34
Clank was shown to be able to keep up physically with characters like Ratchet and Quark in the game All 4 One. Alpha Clank also gives a notable increase in strength and can destroy large metal containers with melee attacks
Speed & Agility
Most projectiles from their weapons travel at Supersonic speed (based on the Sonic Eruptor).
Ratchet is capable of dodging projectiles such as missiles and energy bolts during gameplay. He’s also avoided laser fire in cutscenes https://youtu.be/1pOdET5PW1I?t=135 and rocket launchers https://youtu.be/1pOdET5PW1I?t=1907
Ratchet has enough dexterity to balance on narrow rail systems while fighting and avoiding projectiles and obstacles.. For example Dr. Nafarious in the PS4 version of Ratchet and Clank https://youtu.be/Zqm58LHabUQ?t=352 Several missions in Deadlocked are also a good example https://youtu.be/7FVdtwIZt_E?t=97
Speaking of Dr. Nefarious, his boss fight at the end of 3 is insane in terms of the amount of attacks and projectiles he produces (and by extension the amount you need to avoid). https://youtu.be/8xiLGi_XPCY?t=1073
The fight against Nefarious in a Crack in Time was also intense. Some sections even involving Ratchet using his Hover Boots to outfly lasers, while avoiding attacks from Nefarious and avoiding bottomless pits on the boss track way. https://youtu.be/P0AC2w3utNc?t=137
The Hover Boots and Jet Boots allow their wearers to clear the lengths of city blocks in seconds.
Durability & Endurance
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Ratchet’s body is reinforced with Nanotech, the same stuff that allows buildings in the R&C universe to withstand multi-city-block busting explosions (and likely can take higher). Nanotech will also repair his body when he takes too much damage, though he has a limited amount.
Chameleon armor reduces damage taken by 96%. That means any attack on Ratchet has only 1/25(or 4%) the amount of force behind it as usual. This isn’t even counting various barriers Ratchet has at his disposal to up his defense even more.
Ratchet survived a several story foot fall after being betrayed by Quark in the first game https://youtu.be/gx_pWZkeO20?t=1497
Ratchet survived a violent space ship crash through a planet’s atmosphere and having his cockpit violently thrash against the ground before being stopped https://youtu.be/rQ0xO6702Kg?t=352
Clanked also survived a fall through an atmosphere and a crash that totalled his space ship during the opening of the original game https://youtu.be/gx_pWZkeO20?t=94
Jak and Daxter
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| An impressive feat in its own right...especially if you got all the Precursor Orbs |
Speed & Agility
Jak can easily doge tons of projectiles, enemies, and attacks from the first games final boss https://youtu.be/k2e2dZq6FwE?t=73
Jak avoids gun shots from a grating below himself, by crimson guards in Jak 2 https://youtu.be/UdE9JaIIzk0?t=441
Gets flung several hundred feet into the air, but lands smoothly and balances/grinds down a narrow rail after stealing the barrens banner in Jak 2 https://youtu.be/6RmsZ9vq-fM?t=455
Manages to hover board around a mining facility and distribute several bombs into silos within a few minutes after they’ve been activated https://youtu.be/tVTYepxArys?t=80
Drives a hovercraft while avoiding rocket launchers https://youtu.be/RloeT-oRcMU?t=114
Jak is shown to have some decent boxing skills when fighting Captain Phoenix in TLF https://youtu.be/bTwVcfR5HVs?t=169
Jak is fairly acrobatic, having heavy emphasis on platforming and avoiding obstacles in his games. You’ll also probably notice he can swing and pole vault around poles pretty easily in most of his games.
Daxter out runs various obstacles including boulders, a giant spider, ETC https://youtu.be/T-CVErTY85E?t=207
Daxter can actually climb up trees and around obstacles with a bit of dexterity (kind of like a squirrel) https://youtu.be/iQDTkQuzrzk?t=540
Durability & Endurance
Jak survives a small explosion in his face from precursor tech he was holding at the beginning of the first game https://youtu.be/n9Tf2G5TX0k?t=203
Jak survive a fall from several dozen stories high with no strain, when using Blue Eco and a jump pad https://youtu.be/k2e2dZq6FwE?t=53
Jak gets violently blasted out a window by an explosion during a mission in Jak 2 https://youtu.be/1au0aYr5mhA?t=922
Jak survived a plane crash with the cockpit getting more or less directly hit, after being shot down early in TLF https://youtu.be/8n5PDqTRElI?t=507
Daxter gets flung several hundred feet into the air, lands on his crotch on a wire. Is flung upwards again and lands with no protection https://youtu.be/UdE9JaIIzk0?t=951
Daxter gets sucked into a water valve and violently squeezed through a large water system https://youtu.be/1au0aYr5mhA?t=466
Daxter gets violently blasted out a window by an explosion and has Jak land on him https://youtu.be/1au0aYr5mhA?t=922
Can be shot out of a ship like a cannon onto another ship and through its metal hauling with no damage. Also can sabotage enemy hardware this way https://youtu.be/8n5PDqTRElI?t=208
Training & Experience
Ratchet & Clank
In addition to his natural talents, Ratchet has received a training as a commando by Megacorp, ranging from martial arts and outdoor survival, to origami.
Ratchet regularly competes in various “arena battles” in almost every game of his series. They generally involved fighting against dozens of waves of robots, monsters and bosses with no breaks. A lot of arena fights even had extra stipulations to make them harder such as having random weapons available, having ammo teleported out of weapons before being used, ETC.
Many challenges in Deadlocked were also centered around platforming and many levels in the series have at least a slight focus on platforming.
Ratchet does not need tons of tanky armor to take on hordes of robots and monsters. In fact he was quite capable of doing so in Size Matters, while clad in only a bath towel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WWYvdVc4lo
Clank has shown he can hold his own in multiple games like Secret Agent Clank, All 4 One, Full Frontal Assault, ETC and was taught how to manipulate time by the Zoni and Orvus.
Both have been together on over a dozen galaxy-saving missions as a team. Including taking down Dr. Nefarious multiple times, who’s a supergenius who waged war against the Solana Galaxy and invented a super weapon called the Biobliterator that could turn organics in robotic lifeforms. Other villains include: The Kingpin/Clunk who nearly came close to destroying every planet in a galaxy, Percival Tachyon, and Mr.Eye who had ambitions or goals in line with these as well.
Ratchet's also fought with, received training from, and defeated Alister Azimuth, a high ranking Lombax soldier who had years of experience over him.
They also defeated several galaxy renowned heroes in Deadlocked like Ace Hardlight.
Both have above average intelligence, With Ratchet coming from a species renowned for technological modes to common weapons and tech and Clank being able to do outright impossible mathematical problems such as calculating the last digit of pi.
Likewise Ratchet has several games worth of space pilot experience, and has often gotten into galactic dogfights in multiple games.
Jak and Daxter
Jak completed the red Mod Gun course in Jak 2. It was impressive enough for Krew to hire him for some jobs https://youtu.be/lAWovvoDvys?t=297
Jak completed the Precursor Tests of Manhood in Jak 2. This area had various puzzles and platforming challenges https://youtu.be/xzdhwmrQ-2o?t=674
Jak could beat Ur 86 in races in Jak X. He’s pretty much a super robot designed for the specific purpose of racing https://youtu.be/c3T9WeLbBX0?t=1205
Jak regularly gets into sky dog fights in TLF https://youtu.be/6A7a7f8a7B4?t=86 https://youtu.be/8n5PDqTRElI?t=152
Jak was instrumental in turning the tide against the Metal Heads, KG Forces and repelling the Dark Makers over the course of Jak 2-3. Prevented Maia and Gol from destroying the world with eco in the first and managed to outdrive dozens of competitors during the Kras City championship including the legendary driver Mizo in Jak X.
They finally restored balance to the world eco by helping repair the Eco Core in TLF.
Despite his attitude, a lot of the Jak games have extensive puzzling in them, requiring some critical thinking. Most of his bosses are not straightforward either. Jak normally needs to use the environment to his advantage, seek out weak spots or turn his opponents attacks against them.
Jak has a fair amount of experience with piloting airships, hover bikes/crafts and the such. He’s won several racing competitions in the main game for example, and Jak X. TLF had extensive airship use, and Jak’s gotten involved in aerial assaults on huge bases or gunships more than
It’s worth pointing out that Daxter can hold and use any weapon in Jak’s possession in the 2nd and 3rd game. He typically does this when you’re riding on a hovercraft or hoverbike around the city (if you zoom in you’ll notice he holds the gun to focus on shooting while Jak focuses on driving).
Daxter worked for Osmo’s metal bug Extermination Company in the game Daxter.
Daxter defeated these bosses on his own in Daxter https://youtu.be/Wsh6lK-vUbI?t=821 https://youtu.be/qHPNKrzYVz0?t=1952
Despite taking 2 years, Daxter did eventually rescue Jak after he was captured in Jak 2. He also took down Kaeden, the leader of the Metal Bug Forces.Weaknesses
Ratchet & Clank |
| Japan... y u do dis? |
As skilled as Ratchet is, he tends to have Tunnel Vision. Once he has his mind onto something, it takes a long time for him to no longer be concerned about that. Clank can be too trustful of people, especially if they happen to be female robots. And despite being very intelligent, he does tend to fall for things that are pretty obvious. And while each one is very dependable on his own, they work best when working together. If you can take one down, there is a chance the other can fall.
Jak and Daxter
 |
| Eco shortage...why were you a thing? |
Jak is headstrong. Even before the two year experimentation, he took risks that he really shouldn't have. The reason he is unable to use Dark or Light Powers in Lost Frontier is the shortage of Eco, which was rectified in the end of the game. But despite that, the eco he carries is a finite source. Once it runs dry, he'll have significantly fewer options. Same goes for his gun, which share ammo among the similar mods.Jak also tends to hold a grudge for a long period of time.
Daxter is the weak link of the duo. While loyal and has proven helpful at times, Jak does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to fighting. While Daxter has weaponry to call upon, they were specifically made for fighting bugs. Some big bugs but it’s doubtful they'll be useful against some of the heavy hitters. And while Dark Daxter allows him to be as useful as Jak, not only is it a limited time thing, he can not properly control when it comes out.
Conclusion
Ratchet & Clank |
| Thanks again for the gif, Moh |
Advantages
- Much larger, versatile, and more destructive arsenal.
- Even his more low-tier armor is much more durable and higher tech than Jak’s armor.
- Clank is the far more competent and useful sidekick. The Alpha clank form also brings a notable counter to Dark Dax.
- Ratchet has a weapon or gadget comparable or often times even better than everything in Jak’s arsenal.
- Ratchet has actual formal training, and a minimum of eight more galaxy saving adventures than Jak.
- Dark & Light Forms could be easily countered by the Groovitron.
- Has fought a significantly larger array of enemies and villains then Jak.
- Much more options when it comes to maneuverability (Heli-Pack, Hoverboots, Hoverboard, ETC.)
- All of his weapons have their own individual ammo pool, where Jak’s morph gun needs to share it among all his mod
- Nothing is stopping Ratchet from using one of his transformation guns to turn Jak or Daxter into a much less threatening animal such as a sheep or duck, as both of them have been shown to be just as susceptible to transformations over their adventures as anybody else, even robots get transformed by these guns, there’s no doubt it could be used here as well.
- Regularly fight people much larger and physically stronger then them.
- Acrobatic skills will prove useful when dodging gunfire.
- Clank’s time based powers and immunity, allow for a good counter to light freeze and eco reflex.
Disadvantages
- Both are smaller and less physically imposing compared to their opponents.
- While capable on their own, Ratchet and Clank work best together.
- Ratchet has had three love interests, but zero girlfriends
Jak and Daxter
Advantages
- Jak is larger and somewhat physically stronger then Ratchet.
- Jak has several shields at his disposal to block devastating attacks and Dark Jak is semi-invincible
- Can diffuse and reflect some projectile attacks with spin kicks.
- Can sap health from enemies with physical attacks. Also has light regeneration for healing.
- The speed afforded by light freeze and eco reflex would allow Jak to more easily avoid attacks and counter. Eco reflex potentially speeding Jak up rather than altering time would also be useful against opponents who have protection against time hax.
- Both are much better dancers.
Disadvantages
I’ve been waiting my entire time spent working on this show. Waiting for this fight to happen. We all knew it would one day, and I knew I could offer more into this match up than any other one this show might ever end up making.
- Much smaller pool of weapons with less destructive capabilities.
- Much weaker armor.
- Jak has terrible ammo efficiency. Some of the higher tiers of gun mods can barely even be used thrice in a row or for more than 10 seconds at once. Since a lot of the weapon mods share ammo as well, you also can’t go crazy with one, without potentially impacting your abilities to use others to their full capacity.
- Most of Jak’s Dark abilities tap out his dark eco reserves completely and even most of his light Eco abilities can only be used in limited amounts or for short periods of time (Light freeze for example can only really be used twice).
- Dark Dax’s frenzy mode also can’t really last more than a few seconds without a constant source of Dark Eco.
- Some of Jak’s abilities are situational (can only be used in specific places).
- Daxter’s arsenal is a bit lacking.
- No formal training, and less on field experience .
- Daxter is heavily outclassed by Clank in all noteworthy fields, making this more a 2 vs 1 & ½ at best.
- Most powerful gun mod, the Supernova is really not all that impressive compared to Ratchet’s strongest gadgets.
Verdicts
MaxOfFewTrades
So let’s get right to it. Firstly, Ratchet and Clank have a much larger, versatile, and dangerous set of weapons in their command than anything Jak has with his morph gun. Every single mod Jak has access to can be matched or outright countered by something Ratchet has in his arsenal, not to mention that if Ratchet could disarm or destroy the morph gun, Jak would be completely without any guns to use in the fight where as if Jak did the same, Ratchet would have over 20 more guns he could pull out all just as lethal and dangerous as the last. The Supernova gun mode is literally no different from Ratchet’s Zodiac, or RYN3O, or Harbinger, or MANY other things Ratchet has used over his career, and the wide variety of weapons Ratchet has means no gun mode Jak could pull out would be all that surprising to him and would be able to counter.
So as far as a straight up shootout, Ratchet wins by a galactic mile.
Next armor, either Ratchet has the Pilot Suit, which is still probably more durable than Jak is even with the armor of Mar. If Ratchet is given literally any suit of armor he has ever owned over the course of his adventure he becomes more durable than anything Jak has ever had to fight in his life. Jak’s world is a much more steampunk, wastelander style when it comes to the technology level, whereas Ratchet has access to the greatest armors and weapons spreading across three separate galaxies.
Even without any armor at all Ratchet’s supply of Nanotech matches any of Jak’s green Eco’s healing powers blow for blow. As far as durability and armor are concerned, Ratchet could win without ever even getting notably hurt.
Next let’s talk about teamwork and comradery. Ratchet & Clank are the better TEAM between the two, by simple virtue of Clank going off on his own and doing a ton more then Daxter has ever done in his life. Clank has gone adventures all his own and fought and defeated more imposing enemies without Ratchet than anything Daxter has ever done without Jak. And when you put both teams together, Ratchet & Clank actually work together in combat. Clank provides several benefits to Ratchet that make both of them a much more dynamic and reliable team.
When Daxter is with Jak, he mostly just rides on his shoulder and says funny quips for the most part. On occasion he’ll go into an area only he can fit in or holds and uses Jak’s guns when he’s busy driving. But 98% of the time Jak could have gone on all of his adventures without Daxter and nothing would notably change. On top of all that, both Ratchet and Clank fight perfectly fine on their own, both are capable of using all of the same weapons as each other and have stood on equal footing when it comes to being warriors and heroes, they are equals in each other's eyes and it shows in battle. Split up or apart they are a VERY dangerous duo, take Daxter away from Jak, and nothing of note really changes.
When it comes to friendship and teamwork, Ratchet & Clank win out.
Now let’s talk about Jak & Daxter’s ace in the hole, their Dark and Light Eco powers. Just about anybody you bring this fight up to will say that this is Jak and Daxter’s best chance at winning the fight. While powerful, I’m sorry to say they will not be nearly enough to turn the tides. I’ll go over all the reasons why. Firstly, The Dark and Light forms do NOT last very long in battle. Roughly a minute or two at best before they completely run out of eco and change back to normal. Add to that the fact the using almost ANY of the dark or light powers will drain their energy even more than normal! One Dark Bomb, one Light Regeneration and those powers are used up! And they can’t charge up their eco on their own, they need to take it from the planet by defeating other eco users, which Ratchet and Clank are not, and even if they were they would have to be dead before Jak would get any of the extra eco.
So, all Ratchet and Clank need to do is stall or even just tank the attacks that come from them and then their opponents will be back to normal and without the stat boosts provided to them by the forms, they just won’t last long enough to win! All it would take is one well timed Groovitron Ball and Jak & Daxter (Who are known dancers already) to uncontrollably dance until they’ve run completely out of eco before they even get the chance to do anything! But let’s take out the Groovitron altogether and look at every single Light and Dark form power Jak has and see if Ratchet could survive or counter it.
Dark Bomb: It’s a large shockwave that can be jumped over, Ratchet does this ALL the time, Dark Eco is used up and RYNO to the face.
Dark Blast: Much like the Dark Bomb, it can be avoided and it's mostly just an aerial version of the Dark Bomb, Ratchet avoids it, Dark Eco runs out, RYNO to the face.
Dark Strike: A powerful concentrated blast of Eco! ...That can be jumped over, fires a few, they are avoided Dark Eco runs out, RYNO to the face.
Dark Giant: Basically a size and stat buff, useful, but drains Dark Eco VERY quickly. It runs out and RYNO to the face.
Dark Invisibility: Context sensitive and won’t be able to even use it in the first place in this fight.
Flash Freeze: Clank is immune to time based abilities and if he's next to Ratchet, Ratchet is also completely unaffected, ultimately completely wasting all of his light eco… and RYNO to the face.
Light Flight: Badly named, this basically gives Jak about three or four extra jumps and can’t actually fly while using it, and even if he CAN fly with it, Ratchet has Hover Boots and Clank has the Heli-Pack, easily matched.
Light Regeneration: Heals Jak completely! ...But he has to stand still to use it, and can’t defend himself when he uses it. And his light form ends after he uses it. It really doesn't matter if he heals himself anyway because the RYNO would rip him apart anyway. So Jak goes to near death, transforms and heals, changes back and gets shot in the face again. Not as useful as you would think.
Light Shield: Ratchet and Clank just need to wait it out, it’ll run out eventually. Not to mention Ratchet has a gadget called the Shield Charger that does the EXACT same thing as the Light Shield it even acts like a taser just like the eco powers.
And that’s it really, I don’t want to sound like I’m putting Jak & Daxter down here, because I freaking love these guys, and their games are some of my all time favorites. But they have less weapons, less ammo, less adaptability, less mobility, less durability, less experience, less training, and their eco powers are easily avoidable due to Ratchet’s gadgets and acrobatics.
I love both teams more than anybody else can openly admit, but when it comes to this fight… Jak and Daxter are gonna get ripped a new one.
AkumaTh
You know, for all the theories out there about the recent Death Battle results, I’m surprised no one went “Well AkumaTh didn’t research the match so maybe that’s why the Prediction Blog was wrong”. Of course, that is a large leap of logic, about on par on thinking they don’t use our information. So if the Death Battle picks a result the majority of us didn’t pick, don’t take it so personally. End of the day, this is who they feel would win. And it’s their right to say that like it’s our right to disagree.
Unlike the last two, I did research this match. Its because of this match I missed Bowser/Ganondorf. Because as fun as that match would have been to research, this match was like “Whoa”. Despite not playing either game, I knew this match was going to be big and I needed to research this. And here I thought researching Solid Snake was tough. Each of these guys have enough cutscenes to rival Snake himself. But I did it, looking through all their games (at the time) and giving my two cents in the mix.
While the idea of Jak winning is there, I feel a lot more comfortable siding with Ratchet and Clank for this match. Both Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank are impressive teams. They've done a lot together and had individual moments to shine. But like Mad Max Vs Guardians of the Galaxy, one just has a lot larger scale to work with than the other.
Between Jak and Ratchet, Jak is obviously the stronger of the two and possibly the fastest. But Ratchet has a lot more options than Jak that could make those advantages worthless. Using the PSASBR Load out or all of it, Ratchet just has more varied options and range than Jak. Not to mention his stuff can most likely hit harder. Worse of all, Jak's Dark and Light Eco is the only Eco he can have on supply. The other eco he has to find or refract from the Dark or Light Eco. And his Gun Mod shares ammo among the mods, so his supply of attacks is much more limited than Ratchet.
Between Daxter and Clank, it’s no contest. Clank has more combat moves and capabilities than Daxter. And even with Dark Daxter, Clank has two Giant Clank modes to counter or time manipulation weaponry (if given) to counter that. No Dark Daxter, no way Daxter can win.
And when paired together, Ratchet and Clank is a much stronger team than Jak and Daxter. With Jak and Daxter, you know one is doing the most work compared to the other. Ratchet and Clank work together like a well oiled machine. Clank is like a pair of eyes behind Ratchet, grants Ratchet even more maneuverability and the ability to attack separately on his own or together with Ratchet.
Jak faced big machines, but they look primitive and small compared to the ones Ratchet and Clank faced. So in my book, the winner would be Ratchet and Clank.
Hero’s Shade
I can't really add much new here to what the others already said, but I want to toss in my two cents because I hold nostalgic value towards the Ratchet and Clank series that pales in comparison to my preferred characters in the last two matches (Dante and Ganon).
I still remember the first time I saw the poster for the first game in Best Buy sporting the “Rip the galaxy a new one” tagline when I was a wee lad, and my parents were reluctant to buy it for me. Lucky for me I have a cool grandpa who bought it for both of us on the PS2, and we played the hell out of it. I've been in love with the series ever since.
Moving on to the actual analysis, I'm going to be very blunt. I’ve gone around the internet looking at peoples’ various comments on this matchup (bad idea, Shade, BAD IDEA), and everyone seems to be under the impression that this fight is “close”. Hoo boy… These peeps really have no idea what J&D are getting into...
Jax and Daxter are outgunned in every sense of the word, literally and figuratively.
The main selling point here is the sheer firepower the Lombax and robot are armed to the teeth with. Ridiculously over-the-top weapons are basically what the R&C series is known for, aside from its lightheartedness and cartoonish comedy.
To put into perspective how powerful these weapons are, the Fusion Grenades, one of the weakest weapons in Ratchet’s arsenal is capable of leveling city blocks. The Doom Blades can pierce Raritanium, a substance more durable than structures that can withstand this level of explosion. The Negotiator and Judicator rend those inferior in terms of raw firepower, and the Agents of Dread drop miniature nukes. Then he has grenades that open black holes.
But even all of this is child’s play compared to the RYNO weapons (which took me until now to realize it stood for Rip Ya a New One).
The first RYNO was an auto-targeting missile launcher that was considered “the ultimate in tactical offensive weaponry during the year 5354”. This means the RYNO is more powerful than all other weapons in R&C 1, which includes various bombs, guns and rockets that can destroy large robots, mechs and monsters, some in one shot. By the time of Ratchet: Deadlocked, the RYNO was considered obsolete, to the point of being called a “sissy” compared to weapons like the Harbinger, which launches exploding projectiles that paint a target for orbital laser strikes. The RYNO II and RY3NO were created to compensate for this. Basically, the top weapons manufacturers in the universe were competing and kept one-upping each other.
Well, somebody went overboard. The RYNO IV was considered the single most powerful weapon in the known universe, so dangerous it was banned in eight galaxies, and even the mere mention of the RYNO IV could land you in Intergalactic Prison. Keep in mind this a universe where nuclear powered toasters, chain lightning weapons originally designed as bath toys, anti-matter weapons, mini-nukes, cannons that summon eldritch horrors from other dimensions and black hole bombs are A-OK and legally distributed.
Now, in this universe, somebody made a weapon that had everyone quivering in their boots and was illegal for being too dangerous. Just think about that for a minute.
Good. Fucking. God.
Also notice how I speak of the RYNO IV in past tense. Yeah, that isn't exactly the last one they made, but I think I got my point across.
To avoid this sounding like a one-sided argument, however, let's compare this to Jak’s weapons.
Jak’s most powerful weapon is the Supernova, which launches a miniature nuke-like explosion: https://youtu.be/rBPNPzVAALk
Hey, that sounds familiar, not unlike Ratchet’s Agents of Dread, which aren't even close to his most powerful weapons.
Jak shouldn't take it personally though, Ratchet and Clank sporting comically OP-as-balls weapons is practically the running gag of the series.
But is that to say Ratchet is a glass cannon hiding behind his arsenal? Well, even if a blast from Jak’s Supernova overcomes the structural integrity of Ratchet’s Nanotech, said Nanotech will repair whatever damage overcomes that durability. Even if we assume it's enough to kill Ratchet, he still has to deal with Clank, who not only is capable of using all of Ratchet’s weapons, but can also become semi-Giant Clank and has the Chronoscepter, which he can use to reflect all of the opposition’s attacks back at them.
That's not even considering that either Ratchet or Clank can just turn them into harmless snowmen or penguins.
And any advantage one might claim Jak and Daxter have with Eco, Ratchet and Clank are either nimble enough to dodge it, can reflect it back, or hold them off with the Groovitron until it wears off. Or...you know. Just blast them to high heaven before they even have a chance to think about it.
Long story short, Ratchet and Clank are gonna rip Jak and Daxter a new-
Oh… somebody used that already. They're gonna go… Up Your Arsenal? No, that's weird. They're… Going Commando? No that doesn't work either. They've got...the Tools of Destruction needed to…
Oh, f*ck it.
THEY'RE GONNA WIN.
Post-Edit: *Reads Moh and Star’s verdicts*
Oh, goddammit.
Ultraguy
Jak and Daxter are pretty f@#ked. Waaaaaaay too many of Jak's weapons and eco abilities have very limited ammunition(made worse by the fact so many weapons pull from the same pool of ammo). Even the ones that don't can't really be spammed excessively due to needing to cool down a bit between uses.
In comparison Ratchet has been known to carry around 12-16 weapons at once per adventure, each with their own ammo pool, and generally being much more ammo efficient with full upgrades.
Jak's also pretty outgunned. Realistically pretty much all his weapons are MUCH less technologically advanced than most of ratchets weakest weapons in their standard forms(keep in mind Ratchet has stuff along the lines of molecular rearrangement, and opening rifts in dimensions). Even Jak's strongest weapon is pretty much matched and outclassed. Not only does Ratchet technically have a similar weapon of his own
but.....really if we're being honest he gets an ultimate weapons much stronger than that in every game
The fact he can also shoot most of those weapons ALOT more times or for longer time periods than Jak's super nova(which honestly can only be fired twice at best) also drives home how outclassed he is in that regard.
I also have to point out how ridiculous some of Ratchet's armor is. A lot of the descriptions say things along the line of "the greatest most durable metal in the universe", and some armor like the Chameleon armor reduces damage by 96%.
That is A LOT and you need to keep in mind there is Nanontech and TONNNNSSSS of shields and barrier projectors that you can add on top of that
Given Ratchet's series is also basically 3d bullet hell, he's got plenty of experience dodging projectiles attacks from tons of enemies. Jak is going to have a mountain of a time dealing damage with his arsenal, especially given how limited it is ammo wise to begin with.
The list of advantages on Ratchet's side go on. He has over twice as many games, has fought a much wider variety of enemies, and has actual training. In comparison Jak's series is dead, located on a singular planet and Jak himself learned most of his skills on the job. Even Jak's speed with eco reflex or his light eco abilities may not save him. For one Ratchet/Clank are immune to alterations in time, and aren't strangers to time hax anyway(heck one of Ratchet's specials in all stars is using a time bomb from CIT). Likewise you can't spam those abilities constantly and given how destructive some of Ratchet’s weapons are, he probably won't have to aim all that accurately anyway.
Additionally even if you do consider the eco reflex ability to be Jak enhancing his own speed, rather than altering time(which does make a difference in this fight), it's worth noting even in a worse case scenario Ratchet could always just deploy a Groovitron ball.
That would pretty much force Jak to stop moving in most situations and turn him into a sitting duck. It should also be noted the golden groovitron variation has unlimited ammo as well. So you can really easily abuse that in a situation like this.
Finally the sidekicks. Truth be told Daxter is kind of an idiot, while Clank is a genius who can calculate the final digit of pi and can speak monkey(how can Dax beat a guy who can speak f@#king monkey?!). Clank's also has had way more playable appearances, has more combat knowledge and is generally more helpful than Daxter. For example not only has he developed his own martial art(Clank-Fu), but he actually helps by acting as a hoverpack or similar device in some games, as well as giving advice. He's also has had long playable appearances in various games, especially a Crack in Time, All 4 One, full frontal assualt and his spin off Secret Agent Clank. In contrast Dax has no combat training, almost always lets Jak do all the work and is almost never playable for more the 3 minutes outside the game Daxter.
It should also be pointed out Clank has actual weapons in Secret Agent Clank, while Dax has suped up bug control equipment with terrible ammo efficiency. The only thing Dax really brings to the table is dark dax, and even then Clank has a transformation of his own(alpha clank) which is arguably just as powerful.
So yeah Jak and Daxter are outclassed on every level. There is no way they should win this fight.
Guest verdicts
The Moh Zone
It’s surreal being on one of these to be honest. Thanks ODBFB! Doing one of these prediction posts is hard, how do you do it every three weeks?
Oh not for the verdict, Ratchet stomps. Star and I did a blog on the subject. But condensing our points is an issue.
I guess if I was to go into this in very short words, I better start with the obvious. Ratchet and Clanks destructive capability and variety with their absurd arsenal completely outclasses anything Jak has ever even heard about in legends. The power and hax it brings is staggering. That much is clear from even a passing glance. Jaks weaponry is nowhere near as strong, with his strongest gun scratching fodder for R&Cs deep pockets. Daxter is…Daxter.
Getting deeper just magnifies the problem.
Despite framing showing otherwise, Ratchet and Jak DO have similar physical stats, and yes I mean strength. With Weapons especially, Ratchet can more than keep up with even Dark Jak. His weakest Melee weapon, the Walloper, is said to be able to punch people into orbit. Speed wise, they don’t have much, I know people have brought up Jak dodging a laser, but it’s not legit. It’s as much a laser as the Blasters in Star Wars, and shows none of the properties required for us to call it a laser. Ratchet with his hoverboots is PROBABLY faster and if we wanna go into possible outlier territory there’s the whole “Escaping a Black Hole without changing my thrust capacity on my ship then navigating through a pirate base before flying back into a black hole” (which gives him Faster-than-light reactions if you consider it legit) thing. And on Clank and Daxter, physically Clank has…somehow, become Ratchets physical equal, while Daxter is…Daxter.
Mentally, if that’s the way to phrase it, Ratchet and Clank are smarter, better trained and more experienced. Even supernatural stuff like Jak is nothing new, Nethers, Zombie Robots and Ghost Pirate…Robots can attest to that. Jak is hot headed and doesn’t really think, and this is in his normal form, let alone Dark. And Daxter is...Daxter.
And added forms, Inferno Ratchet, Giant Clank (Two versions) Dark and Light Jak, theres a lot to pull from. And Daxter is…Dark Daxter and probably the strongest thing J&D have access to, thus killing the gag.
Inferno Ratchet and the really big Giant Clank form are PROBABLY out of the question, the latter especially making the fight a lot closer than it otherwise could be. Still not close, but closer. Dark Jak is a powerful force of Nature, but he is not the invincible juggernaut some people make him out to be. He has been hurt in gameplay and story, and he is on a timer, and he only has one big blast in him. Also, despite Dark Eco being toxic, he’s been around allies in this form and they are just fine. Dax before his own Dark Upgrade in particular. It takes A LOT more of the stuff than Jak can produce outside already deadly attacks to be in anyway threatening. His feralness is his downfall, even if R&C couldn’t just blow him away before he does anything. Light Jak is a tad more problematic, with his Time Hax and Healing, but he can’t spam either and Clank’s Zoni heritage makes him immune to Time stuff. It’s kinda his thing. Beyond that, he’s kinda a non-issue. Dark Daxter though, is smart…er than Daxter, and aggressive and strong, stronger than Dark Jak for certain. Buuuuut he’s also not invincible and on a timer and very easily dealt with by R&Cs hax or firepower.
Which sums up the fight really well in my opinion. Jak and Daxter are on VERY limited resources against foes who are naturally just..better than they are. To top up would require handing them an environmental advantage, and giving him that hands Ratchet stuff like Vendors, Nanotech (Healing Factor in a crate!) crates, Ultramech Pads and Inferno Crates which, particularly the Ultramech Pads, just make it so much worse. They are running out of ammo fast, and though Jak has Eco Skills, which I forgot in my analysis in the blog, it won’t save him in the slightest. Ratchet can mind screw him with the Groovitron, Freeze him with the absolute zero Cryomines, trap him in a Mag-net, Tesla Spikes, Bombard him with drones like Mr Zurkon, suck him into a black hole (Legit or not) with the Rift Inducer and of course transmutate him into any number of animals, Chickens, Sheep, Ducks, Penguins, Monkeys, Pigs, Snowmen…Pixels. Unlike their own hax against R&C, J&D can counter NONE of this.
I think the best way to explain this is with a very simple comparison. In Jak 3, some giant Metal Heads terrorized the Wasteland, and Jak needed the Sand Shark to take them down, after a long fight. He takes down a few, but below ten.
In Ratchet and Clank Future Tools of Destruction on Sargasso, Ratchet hunts about 20 of these things for stuff he actually needs, and then another 80 or so for sport, on foot.
It’s the lack of games, the lack of scale, the fact they are more grounded in reality, their relative inexperience, that leave Jak and Daxter Gone Commando, Up their Arsenals, Deadlocked with no Tools of Destruction on a Quest for Booty, lost in a Crack in Time with no route Out of the Nexus to help them. Ratchet and Clank got this, now and in the Future.
…you can tell Star wrote the end pun for our blog.
Electricstar
Let me first give a big thank you to the ODBFB guys here for letting me throw in my 2 cents in regards to this episode. After working closely alongside Moh in a giant blog, most of the forum pages (before it got locked), and nearly an hour of non-stop super nerd talk on the podcast, I can safely say that I'm glad to be a part of it here. Now watch as it sucks compared to everyone else's verdict and reasoning!
Since I am merely a guest verdict giver guy and I am not an Irish Heatran with a red balloon tied to his back, my thoughts and opinions don't mean anything! JUST LIKE IN REAL LIFE! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
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...Now on to my verdict, those aware of the aforementioned projects with Moh I've done will know that I have every reason to believe why Ratchet and Clank take this one despite Jak having pillar feats. In addition to the usual superior stats, feats, experience, weaponry, armor, etc. Virtually all of Jak and Daxter's hax are either completely countered, matched, or overpowered by Ratchet and Clank's own hax. So instead of going on several well written paragraphs explaining how they outclass Jak and Daxter in just about every stat, I'm going explain more in detail on those aforementioned counters... which I will list down below!
- Jak's timehax is no-sold by Clank’s Zoni soul, Quantum Adactor, Chronoscepter, and Zoni Blaster; and he doesn't need those 2 weapons to still be immune and potentially force Ratchet out of the timehaxed state as well. Even then, if Death Battle considers any of Ratchet's higher-end armor that he's accumulated over his many adventures, I can say that they would do a pretty good job withstanding the beatdown he'd endure once slowed down to a crawl. If I was a gamblin' man, I'd wager that once Jak hit the timehax button, Clank would either nullify Ratchet's slowed down state immediately or go giant clank (details on that below) and fend the two off while the timeslow's duration runs its course... or just let Ratchet's armor take all the punishment like some kind of Tex Avery style beating.
- Jak's light eco healing power is overshadowed by any of Ratchet's nanotech-infused armor and possibly his Nano-Pak gadget if it's considered; giving him not only a superior method of healing, but also with a greater supply of it than Jak's far shorter lasting light eco.
- Jak's light eco shield is matched by any of Ratchet's defensive weapons.
- Any of Jak's environmentally scattered eco vents are matched/countered by Ratchet's equally environmentally scattered Inferno Crates, among other environmentally located gameplay elements.
- Dark Daxter is matched by the 7-8 foot tall version of Giant Clank and the pre-packaged weapons that come with the form, to which the little Zonibot can activate naturally and without outside help so there's no reason to exclude it. Plus, as mentioned above, if we give Jak the eco vents, then it's not much of a stretch to give Clank an Ultramech pad and become the much larger variation of Giant Clank.
- Dark Jak is NOT invincible 100% of the time, he has temporary power ups that indeed give him invincibility, but Dark Jak as a whole isn't impervious to damage and even then Ratchet and Clank have temporary invincibility options of their own. Hell, it's even less ambiguous by the time of Jak 3 where D.J. is injury prone on both a story and gameplay standpoint... god dang gameplay and story segregation making everything all screwed up...
- Many of Ratchet's weapons, namely the transmutation weapons, bypass durability and give him some more options to work around Jak's defenses.
There are many other points in the Lombax-Zoni duo's favor such as Hoverboots > Hoverboard and Mini-Nuke > Supernova, but I found it more important to list the main haxxy points frequently brought up for discussion regarding this matchup, as I'm pretty sure the other guys above me explained all of that in detail.
It is with all of this and much more information that I personally give this matchup to Ratchet and Clank.
