Taser

Lore & Background

In the Watch Dogs universe, the Taser occupies a practical niche in the arsenal of urban hackers who operate in hostile city environments. For Aiden Pearce, a former Blackbriar operative turned vigilante moving through Chicago's surveillance-laden streets, the Taser is a tool for situations where a dropped body would draw too much attention or where the target is a civilian caught in the wrong place. It is quick, silent, and leaves the victim dazed on the pavement rather than dead in a pool of blood.

In Watch Dogs 2, Marcus Holloway and the DedSec collective adopt a lighter, more irreverent tone, and the Taser fits naturally into their toolkit. It is the go-to when a mission calls for a guard to be rendered harmless without the paperwork of a homicide, or when a heist requires a security guard to be unconscious but breathing for the duration of the operation. The weapon is unremarkable in design—a compact handheld device with a pronged electrode head—but its electrical discharge is enough to drop a fully armed guard in a single hit.

Mechanically, the Taser is a single-target, single-use-per-encounter tool. It does not chain, does not pierce cover, and does not function at range. Its value is in the silence it affords: no muzzle flash, no loud report, no shell casings to collect. In a city where every gunshot can ping the ctOS or DedSec's local network and summon a full tactical response, that silence is the real weapon.

Reader's Guide

WEAPON — Taser

Found / Unlocked: Available as a purchasable or world-acquired non-lethal weapon. In Watch Dogs (2014) it can be obtained at select vendor locations or found in the open world. In Watch Dogs 2 (2016) it is part of the standard weapon rotation available to Marcus.

Mechanical Effect: Delivers a single electrical discharge that stuns one target, dropping them to the ground unconscious for a short duration. The target recovers after a few seconds if not finished off or moved. No area-of-effect, no chain stun, no damage-over-time. The stun does not permanently kill the target.

Stealth Bonus: Produces no loud report and no muzzle flash. Does not trigger the same alarm response as a firearm. Ideal for single-guard encounters where you need the target down without a full tactical response.

Limitations: Very short effective range (a few metres). Single-target only. Cannot be used through cover or at range. The stunned target will wake and become hostile again if left unattended.

Flavor: "For when you need them down, not dead. And for when the alley is too narrow for a rifle."

TIP: Pair the Taser with a Smoke Grenade. Smoke masks the brief window while the target is down, giving you time to move the body, hack a nearby terminal, or slip away before they wake.

Did You Know?

• In Watch Dogs 2, the Taser fits the game's lighter, more playful tone—DedSec members use it as a quick-and-dirty way to handle guards without the mess of a firearm.
• The Taser's short range and single-target nature make it a deliberate contrast to the series' EMP gadgets, which affect multiple targets but are slower to deploy.
• Because the Taser leaves the target alive and conscious after a short stun, it can be useful in scenarios where a guard needs to be temporarily removed from a position rather than permanently eliminated.