Staff weapon
The staff weapon is a directed-energy weapon and the standard weapon of Goa'uld and Jaffa forces. A similar weapon is used by Ori levies.
Specifications
Staff weapon bolts release energy comparable to a stick of dynamite when they strike a target. They can reliably penetrate Jaffa body armor.
Staff weapons are powered by a liquid naquadah power cell, so they generally don't need to be reloaded during their operational lives.
Design Flaws
The main problem with the staff weapon is it's shape, which resembles a spear over a meter in length. While this allows the weapon to be used as a quarterstaff in melee, it makes it large and cumbersome to fire in cramped conditions as well as being a very bad shape ergonomically for firing, limiting it's effective range to less than a hundred meters. As ranged weapons of war, they are generally outperformed by the projectile weaponry of the Earth's military. Their flaws have been attributed to the fact that they were designed by the Goa'uld primarily as weapons of terror to keep various populations of primitives under control.
Variants
- A miniaturized, wrist-mounted variant of the staff cannon is the primary weapon of Kull warriors. These appear to have a higher rate of fire than standard staff weapons.
- The Sodan are known to use a smaller version of the staff weapon.