Quake 3 Mac demo - most powerful weapon?

I fired up the Quake 3 Mac demo on my G4 machine because I haven't played it in years and been having fun. Bfg10K and grenade launcher aren't in this version.

What's the most powerful weapon in the demo? Plasma gun does 200 damage per second, shotgun does 110 damage per individual shot, rocket launcher can possibly kill 2 enemies simultaneously(?). Railgun does 100 hitscan damage. Lightning gun is only available on 1 out of 4 maps so is it secretly the most powerful? It's driving me crazy, which one is the most powerful weapon?

Machine gun, always...

Isn't it possible to unlock BFG and other weapons with console commands?

Gotta go with the rail

Nah it says no cheats available in demo if you try that

What makes you say this?

That's the weakest gun

Plasma dps is highest if you got the aim, otherwise rocket or lg

The one that best suits your playstyle. Q3 weapons are pretty well-balanced but also situational.

The instant hitscan for 100 damage is hard to beat

q3 mg is unironically very good on maps where railgun is unavailable. It’s a long range hitscan tracking gun that can chip from across the map.

It's quite hard to hit enemies as well tho sometimes. If you're slightly off you get zero. Not disagreeing simply curious about your reasoning that's all

just dont miss :)

sounds like a skill issue aim better bub

There isn't exactly a non-bfg superweapon in Q3 because every weapon is incredibly well balanced and are all designed for different situations, but the OG Q3 has a notoriously overpowered railgun in retrospect. though the Lightning gun is just as powerful if you've got the range in an open plane.

The Plasma Gun has the highest DPS if you have the aim, but you don't (unless you're some top tier quaker).