Freezeframe Rocket Launcher

For information about the other variants, see Rocket Launcher (disambiguation).

The Freezeframe Rocket Launcher is the blue variant of the Rocket Launcher, unlocked in the level [ 5-3: SHIP OF FOOLS ].

Description[]

Press Alt Fire to freeze rockets.
Frozen rockets have a larger blast radius and will stay frozen even when switching weapons.
- The Terminal.

The Freezeframe Rocket Launcher appears to be, well, an orange rocket launcher. There are two white stripes below the barrel. The end of the rocket launcher has a hole designed for an arm to be in. A hologram of a timer is shown that ticks down when pressing alt-fire. It ticks back up when pressed again, but slower. The end of the rocket launcher moves back when fired. (Someone update the newly updated rocket techs pls...)

Mechanics[]

Primary Fire[]

Pressing primary fire will fire a rocket from the barrel with about a second between each shot. They deal 3.5 damage, have a lifetime of 30 seconds, are attracted to Magnets embedded in enemies, and can also be grappled & ridden. Rocket explosions can also set enemies on fire.

If the rocket doesn't hit an enemy directly, it will create a large, non-damaging shockwave that will push enemies away. Directly hitting an enemy will make it create a damaging explosion. If a rocket contacts a Magnet or thrown Coin, it will also create a damaging explosion.

If a rocket hits an airborne enemy that normally does not fly, it will trigger a red explosion, dealing double damage with double the radius and ignoring the explosion blocking of Soldiers. This also applies to Mannequins clinging to walls and ceilings. Light enemies that are being Whiplashed count as being airborne.

Rockets can be shot mid-air with a hitscan weapon, which increases explosion size, but does not trigger a larger red explosion like shot Cores or rocket airshots. Ricoshots will also target rockets with a priority greater than enemies.

Shooting the rocket with the Malicious Railcannon's beam will create a large explosion.

Alternate Fire[]

Pressing alternate fire will freeze all rockets in place, including any rockets fired afterward, rockets fired by other Rocket Launcher variants, and rockets fired by enemies; it continuously drains its charge at a rate of 1.25 seconds per quarter (5-second max duration); recharging takes 2.5 seconds per quarter (10 seconds for full recharge). Rockets have a 50% larger explosion radius if detonated when frozen. This applies to red explosions as well. The freeze also works on rockets fired by enemies as well.

Using the alternate fire to freeze rockets for at least a second (freezing time does not have to be continuous) will empower (freezecharge) it, signified by a blue pulse with the red stripes of the rocket becoming blue. When freezecharged rockets hit any enemy, instead of detonating in the usual yellow explosion, they detonate with the much bigger and more damaging red explosion, as if they had hit an airborne enemy. This buff also stacks with the larger blast radius that frozen rockets intrinsically have, but not with the buff of hitting an airborne enemy. Freezecharged rockets WON'T detonate in the red explosion if shot at with Revolvers, Railcanons, Magnets, or Coins.

Freezing a rocket will not affect how long it takes for it to despawn.

Magnet Guidance[]

The magnets from the Attractor Nailgun, if stuck on an enemy, will also attract nearby rockets, allowing for easier direct hits. Magnets embedded in an enemy are destroyed upon three direct rocket hits, though red airshot explosions count as two hits. Frozen rockets in range of the magnet will reorient themselves towards the magnet while still frozen, allowing them to take more direct paths toward their target and potentially avoid detonating prematurely on terrain.

Rocket Surfing[]

While falling, touching a frozen rocket (or a moving rocket that has previously been frozen or Whiplashed) will cause V1 to mount it. The rocket travels at 65% of speed while ridden, and can be turned with the movement controls: forward will lower the rocket's pitch and backward will raise its pitch, while left and right will adjust its yaw respectively. The rocket can still be turned while it is frozen. You can jump or slam to dismount the rocket early, after which it will continue at normal speed. Dashing will not dismount V1 nor affect the rocket's trajectory in any way, but still provides invincibility should you choose to ride the rocket into an enemy.

After riding the rocket through the air for about 2 seconds (or as low as 1 second if traveling straight up, depending on angle), it will begin to fall due to V1's weight. The rocket will lose throttle and fall faster the longer you stay on it, but it will resume at normal speed when dismounted (if the same rocket is mounted again, it will still fall at its previous rate). Surfed rockets will not fall or lose throttle while frozen or underwater, so V1 can stay on them indefinitely; that is, until they despawn.

In more detail, rockets being ridden on have a period of full throttle when the rocket is fully controllable, followed by a dropoff period where the amount of controllable momentum reduces linearly and is being replaced with downward momentum. When the rocket is pointed forward or downward, the full throttle period lasts 1.5 seconds and the dropoff period lasts 5 seconds. Once the dropoff period ends, the rocket will fall straight down when ridden no matter which direction it is pointed at.

Rather than landing on a rocket to mount it, you can pull a rocket up from below you with the Whiplash to mount it. If you pull a rocket from above, it will explode in your face instead.

To quickly and reliably start a rocket ride in midair, start by activating the freeze ability and aiming at a slight downward angle, then dash and immediately fire a rocket. Unfreeze the rocket near the end of your dash, and you will start riding on it as it catches you. With proper timing, this method can be used to start riding a rocket at any time while airborne and can even be used to chain multiple rocket rides together, known as Chain Surfing.

Chain Surfing[]

While Rocket Surfing, the rocket can be frozen as it begins to lose air; then, a new rocket can be fired, hopped onto, and unfrozen to continue surfing. The first three rockets have full airtime, starting from the fourth, the rockets get progressively less airtime with the fourth rocket having only half of the full throttle period when riding, and the fifth starts with the dropoff period immediately. The seventh and subsequent rockets start falling immediately after hopping on them and the ninth starting to fall at full speed. The airtime is refreshed upon landing or Enemy Step (jumping off an enemy).

Rockets chained	Airtime
1-3	Full airtime and vertical reach.
4	Full throttle period is 50%. Vertical reach about is 70%.
5	Rocket starts to fall immediately when horizontal. Vertical reach is about 30%.
6	Vertical reach negligible (less than 10%).
7-8	Rocket starts to fall immediately even when pointed upwards.
9+	Rocket starts to fall at full speed, even if pointed upwards.

Rocket Grabbing[]

The Whiplash can be used to grab rockets (including frozen ones) which will attach them to its hook. Up to five rockets may be attached to the Whiplash's hook at once.

If you keep the Whiplash key held, the rocket(s) will be pushed forward about twice as fast than they move normally. However, airshots will not trigger red explosions while pushing a rocket with the Whiplash (despite granting the [+FIREWORKS] style bonus). Additionally, the Whiplash will grab the enemy it connects with if the ensuing explosion doesn't kill them, which may be undesired. You can counteract both of these issues by cancelling the Whiplash with a punch right before its hook touches the enemy, allowing the rocket(s) to close the distance themselves.

Once you release the Whiplash key, any attached rockets will be pulled back towards you. If the Whiplash hits an enemy on the return trip, the rocket(s) will explode and can trigger a red explosion if you somehow hit an airshot. Otherwise, you'll get an explosion in your face, which will always deal 35 damage and gives a damage boost comparable to an overpump explosion. You'll have to dash to avoid the damage, or dash twice if you're airborne to avoid the red explosion. You can also cancel the Whiplash before the rocket(s) reach you, which will send them forward again. Note that if you pull up a rocket from beneath you, you'll mount it instead of getting exploded.

Rocket Jumping[]

You can use the shockwave from a rocket to get a decent boost, but you'll need to do better than simply aiming a rocket at your feet. By timing a rocket shot underneath you after slide jumping, you can get a strong, free horizontal boost. It can also be done by walking backward and firing slightly in front of you while jumping. You gain a stronger boost if the rocket is frozen when hitting a surface. Another way of giving yourself a horizontal boost forward is to dash, jump and immediatly fire a rocket at your feet, which will send you as far as about 5 dashes or more.

Rocket Ladder[]

Shooting multiple frozen rockets upwards and then jumping onto the highest one is a way to gain vertical lift from the ground level. When the rocket V1 is on starts running out of fuel, it is still pushed by the rockets below.

Flying Machine[]

Perform a slam while high up, shoot two rockets beneath you and quickly use the Whiplash, if done correctly you will achieve the miracle of flight. The rocket you are riding on will be pushed upwards by the one you grabbed, allowing you to gain height until the rockets despawn or blow up. Try to keep the mounted rocket at a 90° angle, as this will grant you height quicker. The contraption can be safely dismounted by punching; do not retract the whiplash as it will blow up the rockets. Much like chain surfing this can be repeated numerous times, but the rockets will not lose any momentum, essentially allowing for infinite height. Since this does not require the rockets to be frozen it can also be done with the S.R.S. Cannon Rocket Launcher variant. An example of this trick being performed can be found here.

Strategy[]

The Rocket Launcher has the fastest swap speed of any weapon in the game (barring Railcannon's instant swap speed) and can be used as a convenient damage source at nearly any time, particularly against Cerberi who have a 50% vulnerability to rockets. However, swapping between Rocket Launcher variants will not increase the rocket fire rate, due to a global 1-second rocket swap cooldown.

Rocket Slide Jumping (mentioned in Rocket Jumping) can help with movement if pressed for stamina, due to being potentially stronger than a Dash Slide Jump without any stamina cost.

Rocket Surfing can make recovery much safer when falling off-stage in the Cyber Grind and can be very consistent if Chain Surfing is utilized. There is also no loss of health with rocket surfing (so long as you don't collide with an enemy), unlike the Ultraboost or the Overpump Boost/Jamblast.

Freezing multiple rockets means multiple near-simultaneous explosions when unfrozen. This can allow for multikills on multiple scattered enemies in an arena for greater style reward than individually picking them off, and multiple airborne setups for further style actions should they miss. This can also bypass the three-rocket limit for Attractor magnets. Completely stationary enemies without resistances and immunities are particularly vulnerable to Freezecharged rockets.

Pausing a bunch of rockets and pulling them into yourself with Whiplash while airborne can result in multiple simultaneous red explosions, which can be helpful for pre-planned arena fights. Pausing rockets where a Cerberus is getting up will also trigger airshots when they can be damaged.

Ground-based light enemies pulled with a Whiplash count as airborne, even when dragged along the ground. Firing a rocket at a whiplashed small enemy is a good way to cause red explosions.

Frozen rockets cannot be parried by Streetcleaners. They will try, but the rocket will stay in place and create a damaging explosion, juggling the helpless Streetcleaner in the process.

As with other explosives, the Freezeframe can be used to perform the Mindflayer instant kill.

Trivia[]

Gameplay and secrets[]

With the No Weapon Cooldown cheat enabled, the freeze power never depletes, and rockets have unlimited surf time and will not despawn. It will also disable the fire rate cooldown when swapping off the Rocket Launcher after firing, allowing for an extremely fast fire rate.
If V1 collides with an obstacle or enemy while riding a rocket, the rocket will explode as if V1 were an extension of its hitbox.
If a rocket hits a Malicious Face (though not the ones wielded by Sisyphean Insurrectionists, as those do not deflect rockets) or the reflective armor of an Idol, Hideous Mass or Leviathan, it will bounce off and spiral out of control; however, if it is frozen and unfrozen, it will begin traveling in a straight line again.
- While rocket riding, if V1 collides with a Malicious Face and the rocket itself doesn't, V1 is forcefully dismounted as the rocket flies off in the opposite direction and spirals. This interaction only occurs with a Malicious Face, as V1 will inexplicably pass through the reflective armor of other enemies.
A rocket fired by a player will go straight through V1. The exception is when a rocket is reeled back with a Whiplash which causes a self-damaging explosion.
Rockets collide with each other without detonating; if two collide head-on, their movements cancel out, causing them to stay frozen midair even without the Freezeframe's ability.
- As they collide with each other, you can also use additional rockets to extend a single rocket's surf time by firing other rockets underneath it and flying straight up, which is only particularly useful for scaling 5-2's spawn tower.
After V1 touches the ground, the "rocket fuel" resets only for the rockets that haven't been surfed on.
When surfed rocket starts falling and touches the liquid of at depth slightly higher than V1's height (assuming there isn't a death zone below), it will start skipping on the surface if it is not pointed downwards. It is best achieved in the sandbox.
Mounting a rocket does not reset V1's wall jumps or wall friction like touching the ground or Enemy Step would.
The Rocket Launcher can be skipped by exploding a switch behind the top of the Ferryman painting, a feature implemented to allow for Weaponless runs.
Dying while rocket surfing will still give you full control over the rocket. This is better observed with the No Weapon Cooldown cheat on.
Rocket will explode with a red explosion if a gravity-affected enemy spawns on top of it, regardless whether the rocket is freezecharged. The exceptions to this rule are Cerberus and prime sanctum bosses.
Rockets fired by enemies can become freezecharged only after V1 has ridden on them. The time prior to being ridden while frozen is still counted towards the time to empower the rocket.

Development[]

The rocket riding ability was inspired by games from the series Devil May Cry.^[1]
- ~~THEY ARE LYING TO YOU, IT'S ACTUALLY A FORTNITE REFERENCE!~~
- It's actually a Jojo reference.
In previous versions, when charged and hit with a Malicious Railcannon, would cause a explosion bigger than the Core Nuke, this is no longer possible as of patch 14b