Maelstrom
| Certification Required | Heavy Assault |
| Empire | Common Pool |
| Primary Mode | Vortex Whip |
| Secondary Mode | Chain-Lash Grenade |
| Tertiary Mode | "Sticky" Chain-Lash Grenade |
| Ammunition | Maelstrom Capacitor Unit |
| Range | Vortex Whip: 40m |
| Inventory Dimensions | 3 x 9 (Rifle Holster) |
| Magazine Capacity | 150 |
| Zoom | 2x |
Maelstrom
This is an Ancient Technology weapon. In its Primary mode, when fired it extends a "Vortex Whip," a stream of energy that extends approximately 50m from the weapon and does continuous damage to its target as long as it remains in contact.
The secondary mode launches a Chain-Lash grenade that explodes on contacting any soldier or vehicle, then attempts to "Lash" other nearby targets, much the same as the Lasher . Unlike the Lasher, the lash from a Maelstrom will hit anyone within (Approx.) 5m of the person hit, meaning it has the capability to lash all people within (approx.) 5m of anyone who has been lashed (The Lasher merely hits anyone within 5m of the orb itself, it cannot jump from person to person). It takes 5 grenades to kill a soldier wearing a Reinforced Exo-Suit. Be prepared to get plenty of Grief points if you chain-lash a bunch of friendlies!
The tertiary mode is the same as the secondary, except the Chain-Lash grenade will explode after 3 seconds or upon contacting an enemy. This will allow its user to bounce Chain-Lash grenades off of walls to hit targets around corners.
The Maelstrom is a powerful base defense tool as the chain lash can hurt an unlimited number of enemies in theory. The Maelstrom is also possibly the most ammo-hungry weapon in PlanetSide. It's best used in defensive roles inside a friendly SOI that has an Equipment Module installed so that the ammo recharges automatically. If used in other circumstances, one should carry plenty of ammo for it, especially if you plan on using the secondary or tertiary modes, as it takes 10 ammo "points" to fire one grenade.
On the surface, in addition to the Heavy Assault certification, the base must have Equipment Module installed (or the equipment Module benefit via Lattice) for the weapon to be available at Equipment Terminals.
Shots to kill (Vortex Whip):
| Standard Exo-Suit | 12 shots |
| Agile Exo-Suit | 15 shots |
| Reinforced Exo-Suit | 23 shots |
| MAX | 130 shots |
(The above numbers are taken with 100 Health and full Armor; no MedKits, Implants or Empire Incentives applied)