|  | The Grappling Hook
(Adapted from Ragnarok's Grappling Hook Tips)

## The Basics

First of all you'll want to bind a key to the automagically-created alias 'hook', which makes the grappling hook your current weapon. You should pick a key that is easy to hit in the middle of a fire fight. You'll also want to be good at using mouse look (a 3-button mouse, like those made by Logitech, are handy for this), or have mouse look turned on all the time with "+mlook". For example, you could put this in your `CONFIG.CFG` or `AUTOEXEC.CFG` file (the second line is optional):

> `bind h "hook"
> +mlook`

Selecting the hook may also be accomplished by selecting the axe twice (also known as 'IMPULSE 1'). If you aren't using the custom models for the grappling hook, a centerprinted message will let you know which weapon (axe or grapple) you have selected.

To fire the hook, press the key to switch to it, then press and hold down the fire button (or key). The hook will shoot out, grapple on to whatever it touches first, and then begin to fling you through the air towards it. When you let go of fire with the grappling hook still selected, the hook will be dislodged.

The grappling hook patch doesn't actually simulate a rope or line between you and the hook, you are merely pulled in the direction of the hook from whatever location you are in at the time. This can be bad when you're trying to get somewhere quickly, as if you happen to be in the wrong location you might get stuck on a door frame or under a ledge, unable to get to your final destination. Note that the hook will not attach itself to players, doors, or exploding boxes (any `SOLID_SLIDEBOX` entities). Also, while in flight the hook will pass through teammates uninterrupted.

## Advanced Use

The one special tactic that comes in handy more often than anything else is being able to fire a weapon while simultaneously grappling onto something. You can accomplish this feat simply by firing your Hook, waiting for it to hit something, and then with the fire button still held down, pressing a key to change to another weapon (either a number key, cycle next weapon, cycle next weapon reverse, or previous weapon). You can then let go of fire, switch to other weapons, etc., without the grappling hook releasing. You can also switch back to the hook while remaining grappled by holding down fire while switching back. The grapple will only be released when you let go of fire with the hook selected.

The grappling hook is great for getting where you want to go quickly, and for getting to areas of the map that you would normally not be able to get to directly. If you aren't one of the lucky few with a T1 connection to the Internet, you should try to let go of the fire button a little bit before you arrive at the end of the grappling hook (to compensate for lag) so that you aren't helplessly stuck to a wall, floor, or ceiling for longer than is necessary. Also, don't forget to keep on running forwards while the hook is in flight (for maximum getting there speed), once it is released it will keep flying on its original path no matter how you move or turn.

To snipe with the grappling hook, simply grapple up into a high, dark corner, switch weapons so that you remain hanging from the grapple, and pick off the little people down below at your leisure. Don't forget that in addition to grappling to walls and ceilings, you can also grapple onto the sky, which is really just a ceiling with a special type of texture applied to it. People who are sniping while hanging from a grapple are especially easy to hit, since they can't move at all.

The grappling hook is more than a useful tool for getting about - it can also be used as a weapon, albeit a rather ineffectual one. It can be difficult to hit a person with the hook, especially when there is some lag or the target is moving rather quickly, but it can be done. A hit with a hook will not attach to a player; instead, it will return immediately, after doing damage equal to an axe blow to the target.

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