| “ | EQUIP a bow with recon bolt. FIRE to send the recon bolt forward, activating upon collision and revealing the location of nearby enemies caught in the line of sight of the bolt. Enemies can destroy this bolt. HOLD FIRE to extend the range of the projectile. ALTERNATE FIRE to add up to two bounces to this arrow.
— In-game description
|
Recon Bolt is a signature ability for Sova.
Description
Recon Bolt is an Intel ability that Sova must equip before casting. Upon doing so he will equip himself with a bow that holds a recon arrow. Sova can control the number of times this arrow can bounce off of terrain using Alt Fire and affect its range by holding Fire. The arrow has three fixed ranges that it can be fired in, displayed as a charge bar under the crosshair. The arrow enters a high range as soon as the charge bar begins to fill up one of the bars. The arrow reaches maximum range as soon as the charge bar begins to fill up the third bar; reaching maximum charge does not further increase the arrow's range. Whilst charging, Sova can recast the ability to reset the charge bar and allow him to safely release his Fire key without firing the arrow.
Upon releasing his Fire key Sova will fire the arrow forward. Upon contact with any surface the arrow will bounce against it depending on how many bounces have been added to it. If no more bounces are available to be used on a collision, the arrow will attach to the surface, windup up briefly, then periodically emits sonar pulses over a few seconds. These pulses briefly reveal any enemy agents they hit that are also in the arrow's line of sight, giving them a red-yellow outline that follows and shows every action the victim is making during the reveal's duration.
Enemies can destroy the recon bolt by dealing any damage to it with weapons.
Stats
Note: Values that are not marked as confirmed (i.e. values not provided explicitly in game or from patch notes) are only estimates. Whilst they may not be the true value, they have been tested so that they should be very accurate. Hover over check marks to see sources for confirmed values.
| Stat | Value | Confirmed value? |
|---|---|---|
 Equip time
|
0.8 seconds | 
|
 Maximum bounces
|
2 |
|
 Minimum charge times
|
Immediately casts at short range 0.333 seconds (Medium range) 0.667 seconds (Long range) |
|
| Unequip time
|
0.7 seconds |
|
| Windup time
|
0.667 seconds | |
 Radius
|
30 meters |
|
 Sonar pulses
|
1 every 1.6 seconds Total 3 pulses |
|
| Reveal duration
|
0.75 seconds |
Update History
Fixed issue where the bolt could be destroyed by Brimstone's Orbital Strike even if it was well out of the laser's target area
- Fixed the projectile from looking deployed for enemies when flying through the air
- Cooldown time increased 35 >>> 40
- Removed more locations where Recon Bolt was able to go through walls
- Will now behave more consistently and only reveal the portion of enemies behind a wall
- The Area-of-Effect indicators now only show up on the enemy’s minimap if the player or their allies are close to the affected area
- Reduced collision size on arrows so they don’t get stuck on corners when fired near them
- Fixed multiple spots where Recon Bolt could over-penetrate map geometry
