Handheld Utility Grapple

"Don't be afraid of the Handheld Utility Grapple. Instead, thank this handy little device for making your job so easy! This model is the 5th Generation van der Waals Field Emitter Device Y-09 Mark 8-j™ (Gen5 vdWFED-Y-09-Mk.8-j for short), and is capable of moving massive pieces of salvage. It can be outfitted to place remote "Tether" fields for complex operations.

LYNX would like to remind all employees that spreading rumors about the deleterious health effects from van der Waals Field exposure is against the Employee Discipline and Conduct agreement."

- Adapted from In-Game Description

The Handheld Utility Grapple (or simply the Grapple) is one of the Shipbreaker's two primary tools, along with the Modular Laser Cutter. It consists of an energy beam that can pull and push surfaces and objects. The force the grapple exerts is somewhat limited by the Shipbreaker's own mass, momentum and distance to the object.

Usage
When using the Grapple on an object, the user can "reel in" with either or. The effect this has depends on the mass of the object in relation to the Shipbreaker, and is denoted with the selection highlight (if enabled) around the object.


 * Blue highlights are considered close enough in mass to the Shipbreaker that the grapple will reel them towards the player.
 * Tan or brown highlights indicate the object's mass is significantly in excess of the Shipbreaker and the grapple will be ineffective on them, instead reeling the Shipbreaker into the object. This can be used to rapidly traverse the salvage bay, though caution must be used because the grapple can accelerate the Shipbreaker very quickly and the thruster pack's brakes could be insufficient.
 * Note that even though an object may be highlighted in blue, it will not necessarily be easy to move or that it will reel in to the Shipbreaker. Reaction force is still applied and the movement will be relative to the mass of object vs. that of the Shipbreaker. Often the object will only move a fraction of what the Shipbreaker moves.

A number of additional functions are available for the Grapple.

Tethers
"Alright cutter, repeat after me: tethers are your friends!"

- Weaver, during the tutorial sequence

Tethers connect two points with an energy beam by holding while looking at a point, and then releasing the button after aiming at a different point. Tethers can also be attached to any part of the Salvage Bay, including the Jax and/or the Hab. Once placed, the tether will then attempt to pull those two points together. If the two points are on objects of different mass, the smaller object will generally be pulled towards the larger one. Tethers have a much stronger pull than the normal grapple beam, and can be used to send large chunks of ship into the Processor, Furnace, or Barge quickly. Multiple tethers can be attached between points to increase the pull force, allowing the movement of very heavy pieces of salvage.

Tethers have their own set of upgrades under the Grapple upgrade tree, increasing the number of charges available before needing to purchase more at the Master Jack, and the duration which deployed tethers last. However, the strength of individual tethers cannot be upgraded.

Force Push
The grapple can emit a push force with, useful for shoving objects into one of the goal areas from afar or simply moving stuff out of the way. Grappling large objects and pushing may leave the object unmoved and the shipbreaker flying backwards. Upgrades to the Force Push allow for various tiers of charged pushes, which are much more powerful than the standard push.

It is important to note the highlight color of the object when using the force push. When the highlight is blue, the push will act primarily on the object. If the highlight is tan in color, the object's mass is too great and the Shipbreaker will be repelled backwards by the push at great velocity.

Upgrades
Like other tools and Equipment, the Grapple has a number of upgrades available for it.