Pipe Wrench
Production information
Affiliation	Black Mesa
Type	Tool/melee weapon
Technical specifications
Damage	10 points per primary attack, between 45 and 200+ points per secondary attack
Rate of Fire	Primary attack: 80 swings per minute (target missed) 120 swings per minute (target hit) Secondary attack: 60 swings per minute (max)
Range	Melee
Usage
Used by	Adrian Shephard
Counterpart(s)	Other melee weapons
Game information
Entity / spawn codes	weapon_pipewrench

 

The Pipe Wrench is the first weapon Adrian Shephard gets in Half-Life: Opposing Force. It can be found at the start of the chapter Welcome to Black Mesa next to a tool box and some loose wires.

OverviewEdit

The Pipe Wrench is a powerful melee weapon that deals more damage than the Combat Knife and the Crowbar.

The secondary fire will have Shephard to lift the wrench over his head and bring it down with considerable force, which becomes even stronger as the button is held down. This secondary attack can easily crush crates and defeat some opponents. On the downside, however, the power of the pipe wrench is compromised by the slow speed of its attack, and a missed secondary attack can leave the player vulnerable to counterattack.

While useful in the first levels, it loses its importance in later stages, due to the quantity of enemies wielding ranged weaponry and the Combat Knife's faster attack speed. It can still be used in later levels to silently kill Black Ops with a well-placed secondary attack, though, and a skilled player can dispatch entire squads before they notice them.

Behind the scenesEdit

• The 2007 video game BioShock references Opposing Force, as well as the Half-Life series in general at the beginning of the game; Atlas, who is talking to the player via a radio, tells the player to find a crowbar or other melee weapon to use for self-defense. After briefly looking around, the player finds a pipe wrench.

TriviaEdit

• The popular Doom mod Action Doom II features a Pipe Wrench as a melee weapon, with direct references to the Half-Life variant; using attack sounds right out of Opposing Force, and having Black Mesa embossed on the handle of the wrench.

GalleryEdit

HUD icon.

Viewmodel.

Early Opposing Force screenshot including the Pipe Wrench.

Ditto.

List of appearancesEdit

• Half-Life: Opposing Force (First appearance)